


Avatar: the Nine Tailed Fox Spirit

by konohafics



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, BAMF Haruno Sakura, Canon Typical Violence, F/F, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shinobi Politics (Naruto), Smart Uzumaki Naruto, Team Dynamics, Uchiha Sasuke Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 27,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27792265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konohafics/pseuds/konohafics
Summary: Traveling the world with your teacher and best friend to learn the four elements isn’t as fun as it seems, especially if said best friend is an idiot you might be in love with.In other words, Sasuke is the Avatar struggling with the weight of his responsibilities and Naruto is the jinchuuriki trying to change his destiny.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke & Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto & Haruno Sakura
Comments: 29
Kudos: 85





	1. the Avatar and his Fox

Long before he had born, Sasuke had been predestined for greatness. The second son of Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto, the respective heads of the once legendary Uchiha clan. Genius was in his blood. Being the Avatar only helped to solidify that fact.

Yet, he can't help but feel he's wasting away, stalling for a destiny that's approaching faster than he can keep up.

"Kakashi," Sasuke calls, sweat dripping from his hair and burnt clothes. "Kakashi."

His poor excuse of teacher is draped over the edge of a bench, long legs hanging off the side. One hand propping up the crook of his neck and the other tucked in the pages of a familiar orange book.

His sensei ignores him, naturally.

His eye twitches and he crosses his arms over his chest in the manor of a puffy young child. He raises his leg and makes sure to kick him just _right_ in the chest.

Kakashi's book falls onto his face with an audible thunk and Sasuke snickers happily with satisfaction.

The older bender sighs, tiredly, tenderly moving the book from his masked face. He looks up at him, lamely,"Is this how you treat your elders, my cute little student?" he asks.

The antagonistic pet name makes the Avatar's eyebrow twitch. "Please," he manages, "regardless of what your white hairs say, you're thirty at best."

(He's not sure why, for the record. Kakashi hasn't done one active thing in his life.)

He clutches his hand to his chest, dramatically. "I'm 27!"

"Hn," he turns his back, arrogantly. "Shouldn't you be married by now or something?"

A meek servant enters the court, standing at the edge of the yard, and bows lowly, respectfully. "Forgive me, my lords," he says, "but the Fire Lord requests your presence."

Kakashi, of course, points at him, accusingly. "Look what you did, Sasuke."

Sasuke ignores him, pointedly. "Is it urgent?"

He nods feverishly, that nervous frown the attendants use only when the cabinet is present and the Fire Lord is particularly antsy.

They both frown.

"Please," he bows, "follow me."

_____

The doors to the throne room are just as grandiose as they are brilliant. Intricate designs depicting past lords and their dragons, carved with nothing greater than a master's skill. Precious gold melded into expendable designs, flames and kings and jewels, so abundant in number its original glamor is lost.

Yet it's true gem nowhere near it, seated rather at the head throne.

Fire Lord Hiruzen is a kind, if not strange, elderly man. A patient ruler and soft-spoken leader with a charm for charity. When Sasuke's family had died, he had offered him a permanent room in the royal palace. Insisted, really.

For "protectional" reasons.

His cabinet officials are placed at his sides. Koharu and Homura, equally as elderly benders, but twice as shrewd.

Kakashi takes a casual seat on a cushion in front of them, lazily propping his chin with his hand in waiting. Sasuke follows suit.

Hiruzen smiles warmly at them, but the sentiment is lost amongst the other elders.

"Avatar," Koharu, the woman, says, looking down upon, "Would you have carried to freshen up before hand?"

He stares at her, plainly. "I thought summons were urgent, _Elder-sama_."

He pokes at the words, spreading out the honorific he so blatantly refuses to use. He is not a lap dog to be called around at every whim and he'll make every summon just the more difficult to prove it.

Her eyes narrow at his protest.

He crosses his legs, looking to the Fire Lord, "I hope this is about furthering my training."

He's been waiting for years. He brings this up every time he seems him. He's being antagonistic, really, but Hiruzen's answer is welcomed all the same.

"Actually," he smiles, in that strange old man way, and Sasuke perks up instantly despite his ongoingly dark demeanor, "it is."

"Don't get so excited," Koharu adds immediately, the killjoy if he had joy to kill. "Tell him the rest, Hiruzen."

The Fire Lord's smile downturns, cracked, chapped lips pressing together with unease. "Ah yes," he sighs, his optimistic amusement forgotten. "I'm not sure there's an easy way to put it, Sasuke-kun," and he pauses, unsure.

Sasuke wonders what could make the Fire Lord of all people anxious.

"The world is changing, with or without our consensus, young Avatar," he admits, finally. "We need to send you off to further training, tomorrow if not today."

His heart speeds up, excitedly. "Why now," he demands, suspicion immediately rising.

He's been asking for years to further pursue his training, but he had been insistent to delay it, to let him "grow up".

"A war," Kakashi guesses, easily, for a lack of better tact, and really what more could he have expected?

In Hiruzen's persistent pacifism, he had stopped him from progressing while the rest of the world went on. And _that man_ got stronger day-by-day—

The old men sighs and confirms the experienced bender's suspicions.

Sasuke curls his fists in his shorts, "Between which nations?" he demands, "You said these were peace times, that the four elements were on diplomatic terms—"

"The four elements are on diplmoatic terms," he corrects him.

"Then between the villages?"

Elemental nations tended to have smaller, self-sovereigned villages within them, specializing a certain type of bending. The Sand Village in the Earth Kingdom, the Lightning Village in the Fire Nation. Perhaps a conflict arose between them—

"No."

He looks at him, irritatedly. "Why, then."

Why now?

"Akatsuki."

He blinks, "Who?"

Hiruzen looks at him, carefully, unaware how to further break the news. "The world's most dangerous criminals," he decides, finally.

Sasuke's blood runs cold. "Does that mean—"

The Fire Lord's expression is dark, "Yes, Itachi is—"

He hisses reflexively, paralyzing fear coursing rapidly through the blood in his veins. " _Don't_ finish that sentence," it's a scared hiss from a wounded animal more than anything, but they all know what it is.

It is a threat. A threat to the Fire Lord, nonetheless. Had he been anyone else, he would've been a dead man. And yet, Hiruzen remains unswayed. A wrinkled, old face, that boils an anger in his veins he can't quite name.

"I've said it before," he says, curling his fists in his dirtied training shorts. "I'll do whatever is needed to take him down. If Akatsuki is in the way of that, I'll deal with them too."

(He's waited too long to stop now.)

Hiruzen's smile is weary, sad almost, in that way adults lie to themselves to soften the blow of their own reality. "I'm glad you feel that way—-" he is saddened, even though they are words Sasuke has promised since he was eight, "—I hope you're still up to the challenge when you learn their objective."

"What," he is unwavering, "word domination?"

He and his cabinet are quiet.

Sasuke scoffs, folding his arms over his chest. "You're kidding."

(Same old, same old.)

He smiles. "Unfortunately not."

"Are you going to debrief me or not?" he demands.

_____

He speaks of a shadow, an organization known only to the dead, and an ambition rooted in legend.

The Tailed Beast Spirits. The nine eldest spirits, predating the Avatar and the separation of the physical and spiritual world. Older than the lion turtles themselves. Nine monstrous beasts with unimaginable power, chakra prowess beyond mortal capability. Demons scattered throughout history and its tragedy, sedated by only one man: him, the Avatar.

His predecessor, Senju Hashirama, had encountered the strongest of them and had lived to tell the tale.

And as he was in all wars, the Avatar was essential to ending this one.

Preferably, before it began.

_____

"Who is my teacher?" he asks, finally, once they've recountered the basics.

The old man smiles. "Someone from the Southern Air Council, I imagine. I hear they have quite the teachers."

_____

Naruto is lonely.

A child clinging to existence, desperately crying for love. A bastard in a society of orphans, yet twice as lonely. Shunned from even the peacemakers of the world, he is the scum no one desires.

He is Uzumaki Naruto and he is truly and utterly alone.

_____

"There, that boy..."

"...I heard he was the only one who failed."

"... psh, serves him right. Imagine if they had let someone like him pass—"

He watches the graduation students from a distance, feet dragging against the thin grass as he swings despondently. A gentle breeze fluttering his Air Nomad clothing and bright blond hair. He looks at the gathered airbenders and the way their gazes look right past him.

He wants to cry, curse out the world until his lungs burn. To be heard, to be seen.

(Why.... why do they all look at him that way?)

He looks down at his hands, much smaller than those of his age. Tan and small, rounded with gentle baby fat at every knuckle corner. He bows his head. Was it something he did?

A large, warm hand is suddenly placed on his shoulder, and Naruto nearly falls out of the swing from his surprise. Mizuki-sensei laughs gently at his alarm. "Sorry, didn't meant to scare you."

Naruto deflates, "Oh. It's just you, Mizuki-sensei."

(He had been hoping Iruka would find him.)

His eyes trace his line of sight to the celebrating group of children, "You really wanted your tattoos this time, huh?" he asks.

His shoulders sink, unwillingly, and he nods, slowly. He had practiced hard too, asked Iruka-sensei for help countless times just to be sure. And it still hadn't been enough. He still failed the graduation exam.

"Don't be mad at Iruka," Mizuki promises. "He means good. He wants the best for you."

"Sure," he sniffs, unconvinced, sticking his nose in the air childishly. "If he wanted the best for me, he would've approved my tattoos by now."

His teacher smiles, amused. "You two have a lot in common, y'know."

Naruto feels insulted.

"I don't have a stick up my ass," he grumbles.

Mizuki throws his head back and laughs, but there is something about it that tickles anxiously at the edge of his gut. "It's true," he promises. "His parents died when he was young too. He was lonely like you."

He considers it for a second, rolling the words around his mind. Iruka, lonely?

Families were uncommon amongst the the Air Nomads. It was a newer, foreign practice from a land far, far away. Naruto had a family once, at some point, at least. It's where his surname came from.

His sensei takes a seat in the grass next to him, "You don't need tattoos to be a master, y'know."

He perks up immediately. "You don't?"

"Of course," he laughs. "Firebenders, earthbenders, and waterbenders don't have tattoos."

He pouts. "I'm not an earthbender."

Though, he supposes they were just an official marking, right? You could definitely be a master air bender without tattoos—

"You know," Mizuki speaks, more to himself than to his pupil, "if you really wanted your tattoos—"

Naruto quite literally does fall off the swing that time, unceremoniously falling to the grass in a graceless heap of limbs and annoyingly orange fabric. He jumps onto Mizuki, clinging onto his shoulders, and shaking them erratically.

"What is it?" he whines, loudly, "Tell me. Tell me!"

Eager as ever, his teacher thinks a little, annoyed.

Mizuki laughs, gripping Naruto's hands to remove them from hin. He stands. "It's impossible. It's a stupid idea."

"Mizuki-sensei," he begs, "I'm desperate! Pleaseeee!"

He wants this.

He really, _really_ wants this.

He offers his best puppy eyes for additional affect.

His teacher, thankfully, seems to consider it, rubbing his chin, thoughtfully. He laughs, "You really want to prove yourself to Iruka, don't you?"

He nods.

He smiles, motioning for him to come closer, and Naruto jumps to his feet, eagerly waiting further instruction. Mizuki leans down to whisper in his ear.

He leans away, "You got it?" he asks, smiling.

And Naruto grins exuberantly, a shit-eating grin from ear-to-ear. "O!"

_____

He stares down at the freshly stolen scroll in his lap, eyes gleaming excitedly. He grins, "Rasengan?"

_____

Iruka is fuming at him, smoke tendrils blowing from his ears as his face turns red with pain. He leans so close their noses are almost touching. " _Na-ru-to_ ," he hisses.

The boy in question can't help but laugh happily, scratching at the back of his neck nervously.

His teacher remains unswayed.

He grinds his teeth, "Do you have ANY idea what kind of trouble you're in!" he yells more than asks.

"Who cares," he shouts, clinging onto his sensei's robes. "Just look what I learned, then you'll really have to pass me!"

He smacks him upside the head. "Baka!"

Naruto falls back, shouting, clutching the welp on his aching head. "Wa! Iruka-sensei, what was that for?"

"Were you not listening?!" he demands.

He scratches his cheek, sheepishly. "No," he admits, and Iruka sighs, hanging his head.

"I dunno why you're being so weird about it," he admits with a frown, "Mizuki-sensei said you'd be proud."

Iruka freezes. "Mizuki?"

He nods.

A horrible feeling settles deep into his gut, "Like Mizuki, Mizuki?"

Naruto wrinkles his nose, nodding, "Na, don't make it any weirder, sensei."

He sighs, older than his years. "You—"

He jerks suddenly, slamming them both to the ground, narrowly missing a hail of bending enhanced kunai. Naruto squeaks. Iruka looks over his shoulder, slowly, body still shielding his student.

Mizuki smirks above them, feet standing effortlessly on a thin branch, with his hand resting, arrogantly, on his side. "Damn," he comments, "missed."

Naruto looks around nervously, "Hey, what's... what's going on—"

"Naruto," his teacher says, eyes trained, unwaveringly, on his comrade-turned-villain, "Do you know what that scroll is?"

He shakes his head, slowly.

"It's a collection," he says, quietly, "of the most powerful and dangerous air bending techniques in our temple. Mizuki wants it for his own gain and he used you to get it."

His hands curl, protectively, around the outer shell of the green and red scroll. He looks pale, "You mean—"

"Don't listen to him, Naruto," Mizuki jars. "He's just trying to get you in trouble again. I'm the one _really_ helping you, remember?"

Iruka takes a defensive stance in front of him, "By having him take your downfall?"

"For what?" he smiles, jumping from the branch, landing softly in a gentle swirl of leaves. He grins, "Helping him graduate? Getting his air bending tattoos?"

"You tried to kill me," Naruto says, stiffly, shoulders still aching from the earlier impact, "You tried to kill me! With those kunai just now!"

"I was protecting you," he lies, eyes gleaming, "from Iruka, remember?"

His fists curl, an ugly feeling curling deep into the pit of his stomach, "You set me up!"

He slams his fists out, throwing a gust of wind at his former teacher. Mizuki dodges easily, twisting the movement back onto him, slamming him back into the ground a few feet away.

"Naruto!" Iruka shouts.

"Damn brat," Mizuki grunts.

The boy huffs, irritatedly, raising himself to his elbows from the dirt. His teacher moves to stand in front of him, protectively.

He makes a motion with his hand. "Out of the way, Iruka," he says, "I only need the demon dead."

_Demon._

His eyes water, "You!" he demands, "What did I ever do to you!"

He's been called many things: a demon, a monster, a bastard child with nowhere else to go. He's been wanted dead before and he knows, even if it's the first time he's heard its confirmation.

It still hurts to hear.

"Mizuki," Iruka hisses. "Not another word, you know the rules."

"Those _rules_ ," he spits the words like they are acid, "have brought this temple nothing but pain! How can you defend him? After everything he's done!"

"He is a child!" he yells.

"He is a _monster_ ," he spits. "He's killed our innocent, our children and elderly— your parents!—"

Naruto is angry, "—I've never done any of those things!"

He would never hurt Iruka's parents!

He would never kill anyone!

"Twelve years ago," he sneers. "Twelve years and sixty-eight days ago, do you remember? You attacked the Southern Air Temple, slaughtered our people, and took the life of our fourth councilman!" he shouts, "You, Uzumaki Naruto. You, the Nine Tailed Fox Spirit!"

Fox... Spirit...

He takes a step back, stumbles then falls. His legs shaking uneasily as he stares up in horror at his teachers. His hands curl and uncurl in robes, his eyes are frozen to the elder benders. He chews at his reddened lips.

(Is this why he's shunned? Why they fear him, why they look at him that way?)

"A demon in human form," Mizuki speaks, "that is who you are, a monster."

Naruto bows his head, clutching his temples. His conscious is aching.

Monster, monster, _monster._

He's killed people, destroyed precious life... stole Iruka's parents from him.

(He must hate him.)

(Maybe he does deserve to die.)

Mizuki draws his hand back, ready to launch the giant shuriken in his hand, and Naruto closes his eyes, curling his head into his knees, and waits.

And waits.

There's a sickening gasp and warm tears on his face that are not his own, and looks up, turning into Iruka's bloody and tear-stained face.

His lips move back and forth, wordlessly. "You... why—"

For once, he is at a loss for words.

Iruka reaches out, slowly, shakily, clutching his cheek in one hand. Naruto stares up at him, quietly. "I'm sorry," he whispers.

His eyes water. "Is it true?"

(Is this who he is?)

He nods, slowly, sadly.

Naruto sobs, a painful cry that wrecks his whole body, and presses his cheek further into his teacher's comforting hand. Iruka remains calm and empathetic, despite the large weapon in his back.

"I'm sorry I didn't do more," he says, quietly. "I should've helped you more. I'm sorry I didn't do more. You were so lonely, to no fault of your own, you don't deserve that..." he admits, voice raspy, bowing his head, "nobody does."

He cries, his teacher's warm hand continuing to stroke the tears away.

"No matter what anyone says, you are Uzumaki Naruto," he whispers. "Not a fox, not a demon, or anything else. You have and have _always_ been Uzumaki Naruto."

He sniffles. The hand against his cheek is warm, the blood against his face is warm, his body is unbearably _warm_.

"... a bender of the Souther Air Temple," he smiles, "and my precious student, with or without tattoos."

His eyes widen.

"That's enough," Mizuki says, pulling the shuriken from Iruka's back. The man cries out, falling into the ground, as Naruto reaches to catch him. He makes a "come her" motion with his hand, "Give me the scroll, Naruto."

He shakes his head.

Iruka had saved him.

Iruka had saved _him_.

Him, a child so lost and shunned from the world, terrified and scared of his own existence. He had extended a hand when no one else had, when no one else would.

He stands slowly, setting Iruka down gently on the ground.

This is first bond— the first person who's ever cared about him— and he'll be damned to let anyone take that away!

His eyes narrow. "I'd like to see you try!"

He charges, wind currents rotating rapidly at his waist, picking up dirt and fallen leaves. Mizuki runs to meet him in the middle. They collide, blocking each other with their left hands and attacking with their right. Dual funnels of air shoot past both of their heads, crashing into the nearby forest.

The yellow hairs around Naruto's face flutter softly from the near-miss.

He grits his teeth, moving his leg to kick him in the stomach, and grins, slamming his heel forcefully into the sack of his nuts.

Mizuki falls back, face turing blue. "You— you bas- bastard!"

Naruto spreads his hand slowly, a tightly-woven globe of chakra and air rotating rapidly in the expanse of his palm. He shouts, slamming it blank-point into his former's teacher stomach.

Mizuki chokes, flying backwards, and smashing into the surrounding trees. The branches wave rapidly, creaking and snapping with the force. He wheezes, painfully, one last time before collapsing to the ground, unmoving.

He turns to him, slowly, and beams. 

_World's #1 Most Unpredictable Bender,_ Iruka thinks and smiles.

_____

"Itadakimasu!"

Naruto snaps his wooden chopsticks, crying out as they split unevenly. "Dammit!"

"Here," Iruka chuckles, offering him his own perfectly split pair, "you can have mine."

He lights up even further if possible, "Thanks, Iruka-sensei!" snatching them quickly from his hands.

His teacher smiles, amused, propping his chin with his hand on the wooden counter. "For the ramen or for the chopsticks?" he asks, eyes sparkling.

"Both!" he grins.

He laughs.

"Mm," he says through a mouthful of noodles to Teuchi. "Old-man, this taste's great!"

Ayame laughs as her father cuts more meat for the inevitable second bowl of noodles. "You order the same thing everyday, Naruto," she smiles.

"Mm," he agrees, "but that doesn't mean the taste goes away! Ichiraku Ramen is the best ramen, it never gets old!"

Iruka gives him a look. "You think cup o' noodle never gets old."

He sniffs. "Yeah, so?"

(Cup ramen never gets old, mind you.)

His teacher chuckles, turning away, and returning to his own meal. "I believe you'll be glad to hear Mizuki is alive," he begins. "He's fine, nothing the healers can't fix. He's being sent to rehabilitation afterwards."

"No prison?" he asks.

He nods, "No prison."

As crime was rare in the Air Temples and on the rare occasion it did occur, they simply introduced the perpetrator to a rehabilitation program until further notice.

He tries to speak with a mouthful, "Speamkin' o' heal'rs—"

Iruka reaches over, smacking him upside the head, and Naruto chokes, swallowing the food. "Don't talk with your mouth full!" he scolds.

The boy gags, crying out, "Are you trying to kill me!" he shouts.

Iruka laughs, apologetically. "Sorry."

Naruto grumbles, but he hadn't lost any noodles in the process so he doesn't stay mad for long. "Are you sure it's okay to be out? Considering your back injury and all."

"I'm fine," he brims. "Just have to take it easy for a few weeks. Doctor's orders."

His eyes wrinkle as he smiles.

He's really glad Iruka is safe. He's really, really glad Iruka is safe.

"Oh, that reminds me," his features light up and he turns to fish something from his pockets, Naruto watches him curiously through his peripheral. "It should be— ah! Here it is."

He smiles, sliding him a neatly folded piece of white paper across the polished counter. The excitement in his eyes is as clear as day.

Naruto reaches for it, eagerly. His eyes widen immediately, "Is this—!"

"—The written approval for your tattoos," he smiles, "the councilmen, other teachers, and I agreed—"

He shouts, jumping from his seat, slamming his body full force into him, and crushing him in hug impossibly strong for someone of his size. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" he shouts.

His teacher laughs, patting his head, a proud feeling bubbling his chest. "Don't thank me yet. You still have to go to the graduation orientation tomorrow."

He grins, exhubrently. "Don't worry, sensei! I'll go to a million orientations if I have to, y'know! I'm gonna be the best air bender in the world!"

He puffs his chest out for additional effect and Iruka laughs fondly in agreement. "Yes, you will."

It's true, air bending had never come easy to his student, but with every passing day, it seems more and more possible. Naruto, after all, was a master of the impossible

Naruto nearly falls as he returns to his seat, "So, so, what made them change their minds?"

He hums, thoughtfully, "Perhaps, the fact that you completed a master technique that no one but the fourth councilmen was able to?"

His eyes go comically wide, "Really?"

He nods.

(A technique invented by him, in fact.)

And Naruto's excited, he is, really, but he remembers suddenly who the fourth councilmen of the Southern Air Temple is and the reason why he's not here today.

He looks down at his hands and tries to imagine them as something furry with sharp claws.. He finds the image hard to believe.

"The fourth, huh?" he whispers.

His favorite bowl of ramen suddenly doesn't feel so appetizing anymore.

Iruka quickly takes note of his sudden change in attitude, "Naruto—"

He squeezes his eyes shut, wiping at his eyes, angrily. He doesn't want to believe it. He doesn't want to believe it. "Is what— is what he said—"

"—No."

"—But," he hiccups, "everyone I've hurt, your parents—"

"—No," he says, firmly, finally.

Naruto looks at him, eyes watery.

"What Mizuki said about you hosting the demon fox in your body is true," he admits, softly, "but that's where it ends. You and the fox are two completely different entities. You are you and it is it."

A prisoner and its jailer, a vessel and its souls.

He supposes it's easy to believe. He's never had any reason to believe that anyone but him was inside his head. Yet, he can't help but feel scorned, wronged unfairly.

He glowers, poking at his noodles, "Did the fourth have to give his life?"

Was it necessary?

He wouldn't have been hated if he hadn't. He would've been accepted into the temple with open arms. He would've had a normal childhood, a happy childhood.

Maybe even a family.

"He wasn't the Avatar," he explains, "it was the only way."

Working as a bridge between the physical and spiritual world is an ability belonging solely to the Avatar. Yet, twelve years ago, a spiritually exceptional man had become that connection, sealing a powerful demon into a pocket dimension in the body of a newborn child.

Though it had costed him his life, it was considered a miracle all the same.

He looks glum, "So, if the Avatar had been there, it wouldn't have happened the way it did?"

Iruka smiles, "Likely, Avatar Hashirama passed a few months earlier and the new one was too young at the time— but don't get caught up in it," he says, quickly. "Gloom and doom doesn't suit you."

He props his cheeks up with both hands, frowning. Even he, the optimist, is finding it difficult to be positive about this. "You suck, Iruka-sensei."

He grins at him, "Na? You haven't gotten your tattoos yet, I can still revoke my permission."

He shoots up. "You wouldn't!"

He smirks, teasingly. (He would.)

Naruto groans, bowing his head. His teacher chuckles, humorously.

"It's a shame," he grins, "if I don't approve you for the graduation orientation, you won't be able to meet the Avatar tomorrow."

He chokes, spewing food back into his bowl. "What?"

His teacher laughs, "He's coming over tomorrow to begin his airbending training. We figured we'd introduce him to our culture through the orientation."

Naruto splutters, embarrassingly, "You—you can't— you can't just drop that on me!"

(The Avatar.)

_(The Avatar.)_

His head is spinning.

"Is he strong?" he demands.

Iruka scratches his chin, thoughtfully. "I suppose so, though I think he's only your age."

His eyes widen as he leans forward, body vibrating excitedly as he speaks. He has a very, very bad idea. "So, if someone fought him and won, they'd have the respect of the Air Temple?"

His teacher gazes at him, wearily. "What are you planning, Naruto?"

He points his chopsticks at him, grinning, "Iruka-sensei," he says.

He's going to become the best air bender— no, bender!—in the world and he needs to beat the best to do that!

And grins, "I'm gonna fight the Avatar!"

_____

"Naruto," he says, quietly, as the sun finally dips behind the horizon. The sky turns darker by the second. Their noodles have long been finished, "There are people who will hurt you just because of who you are, you know that?"

(He knows, he's already met them.)

He beams, reassuringly, "Don't worry, Iruka-sensei. I can take care of myself!"

_____

He can't help but be annoyed.

Legs swinging hypnotically over the edge of the dock, Sasuke overlooks the secluded pond he had found in a moment of silence. His favorite firebending clothes forcibly replaced with obnoxious orange and yellow robes. His suspicion of the Fire Lord's truth briefly shrouded by his anger for them.

He picks at the fabric, grumbling. Does he even need airbending cl0thes for practicing it or is Kakashi picking at him again?

He is angry, not just at the awful robes and his guardian's constant annoyance, but at the Fire Lord and the world as a whole. He's been begging to continue his elemental training for years, to avenge his family and chase their killer, but only when a war is on their door step, does he approve.

(Of course Itachi would be a key figure in an international terrorist group, why the hell wouldn't he?)

He huffs, tossing pebbles into the water, watching the mesmerizing ripple, ignoring the sensation of being watched. Becoming irritated, he snaps around and barks, "What?"

The air bender is around his age, short and tanned with dirtied robes and abhorrently messy blond hair. Sasuke can already tell he's a pain in the ass.

The idiot points at him, accusingly, from the other end of the dock, "You're in my spot!"

He rolls eyes to himself, "It's a public space, loser," he says over his shoulder. "It doesn't belong to anybody."

(In fact, he's not sure property rights exist in the Air Temples. They're weird like that.)

The kid is in his face before he can blink, oddly-marked cheeks puffed up with anger. "Nah-uh!" he folds his arms over his chest, "I'm the only one who comes down here!"

"Obviously not," he drawls, eyes twitching to himself more than anything. "Do you mind?"

He has better things to do than argue with some temple idiot.

The idiot, in quest, doesn't seem to get the memo. "Hey! Don't insult the Southern Temple's best air bender, Uzumaki Naruto!" he boasts, grinning, and planting his hips on his hips for further effect.

(Naruto, huh?)

Sasuke squints, looking over him. He isn't much, height excluded. His lack of tattoos indicate he is not a graduate from their academy, much less a master bender.

He wrinkles, turning away. "Get lost."

He's not interested in losers.

"You act so high and mighty," he bickers, "but you don't have tattoos and you're not in the graduating class this year either!"

He's going to kill him.

(He found a nerve.)

It's not his fault his teachers keep delaying his training, dammit—!

The idiot grins down at him, from where Sasuke is still seated at the dock's edge. He pulls his eyelid down in a childish expression, "The graduation orientation, I'll prove it to you there tomorrow! I'll beat your ass there!"

He props his arm up in his lap, lamely. "Do you always declare fights against random strangers, usuratonkachi?"

(He's not an airbender, but that doesn't sound very Air Nomad-ish.)

"Eh!" he shouts, leaning forward. Their noses are so close to touching. "What did you call me?"

"I called you a loser, loser," he sneers, quickly growing irritated. He shoves him away, "Now, get out of my face. I could beat your dumbass any day."

He's the _Avatar_ for fuck's sake!

This idiot had no clue who he was and was still promising to fight!

Naruto grabs him by the collar and rips him closer, and he's about as terrifying as a kicked puppy. Perhaps Sasuke is just not easily scared. "What did you say, teme?"

"Sasuke!" Kakashi's mockingly cheerful voice cries, appearing through the streets covered in his own set of awful Air Nomad clothes. He seems about to make a crude joke about how "breathable" they are before he notices the blond trying to strangle him.

"Oh, Sasuke," his eyes up turn into happy crescents and his student wants to punch him, "you made a friend!"

He and Naruto gag, ripping away from each other. He clutches at the fabric where his hand had been, uselessly trying to scrub it clean. Naruto is doing the same with his hand, smothering it against the nearest post with a disgusted look.

The blond points up him, accusingly. "Who the hell are you!"

Kakashi raises an eyebrow, his one brown eye amused, and his singular milky one unmoving. "Sasuke's guardian—"

"—teacher—" he corrects with a hiss.

He smiles, "—-Hatake Kakashi."

He stares at the older men for a very long second, quietly. "Kakashi-san," he crinkles his nose.

"Yeah?" he asks.

"You're weird," he decides. "I don't like you."

His teacher gapes, wordlessly, behind his mask. Sasuke nearly falls off the dock from the shock.

Naruto turns back to him, grinning. "See you later, bastard!" he waves, making sure to flip him off as he leaves.

The firebenders are left to stare at each other in shock. (It was the funniest fucking thing, but Sasuke would die before he admitted it.)

He leaned back, looking up at him, snickering. "He challenged me to a fight."

He looks unsurprised. And truly, it is. On the rare occasion Sasuke was around children his age, they more than often challenged him to test their own abilities.

"Do you know him?" Kakashi asks, feelings hurt.

"No," he says.

What was strange, however, was someone challenging him without knowing who he was.

What a weirdo.

(He had called Kakashi annoying, though, in his book that's as good as it gets.)

His teacher seems to catch his line of thought and sniffs, insulted, looking down at himself. "It's the clothes, isn't it?"

Sasuke throws a rock at him. No, but it certainly adds to it. "Go put on some pants, you creep."

_____

Naruto is late.

Naruto is late for the most important day of his life!

He had been stuck awake last night rencountering the asshole he met at the dock, his dock. (What a jerk.)

He skids through the classroom doors, knocking them further open, banging them against the walls painfully loud. "I'm here!"

Iruka turns to him, slowly. His chalk snaps in half in his hand. " _Na-ru-to_ ," he hisses.

"Sitting! Sitting!" he shouts, quickly finding a seat before he decides to hit him. He finally finds one in the front, nearly deserted except for a few. Most of the graduates are crowded around a desk in the back, giggly and pushing rowdily.

His eyes narrow. Who's everyone else paying attention to?

"Don't make me repeat it again, students," their teacher scolds. "Don't crowd Sasuke!"

Naruto perks up, "Sasuke?"

The crowd in the back begins to thin, grumbling students resuming to their students. The girls giggling and the boys scowling. And sure enough, in their center is the bastard himself.

"Ha!" he leaps onto the desk with ease. Iruka shouts at him to get down. "You did come!"

He hops from desk-to-desk, earning a mantra of annoyed cries as he dirties each desk with the bottoms of his sandals. He lands finally on Sasuke's desk, crouching in front of his face.

The dark-haired boy looks irritated, hands lamely intertwined in front of his face. The bright orange and yellow of the Air Nomad clothing clashing awfully with his spiky black hair.

"Orange isn't your color," he notes. His eyes narrow, but Naruto snickers, grinning easily. "So, you did come to get your ass kicked?"

"Naruto," Iruka warns.

"Please," Sasuke rolls his eyes. "I had to come before you 'invited' me."

"Oh, yeah," he mocks, leaning back. "How so?"

"Naruto!" shouts one of the girls, "Get out of Sasuke-kun's face!"

A boy joins, rolling his eyes, scoffing. "As if _you_ could beat _him_."

(That strikes a chord.)

Naruto's eyes narrow, glowering closer to Sasuke's face. He won't let his accomplishments be tarnished by this random asshole, "Oh, yeah, what's so special about him? He's just a duck-butt head ass."

The class shrinks back, fearfully, and his opponent seems ready to strangle him. "Naruto," Iruka sighs, woefully, finally, "meet Uchiha Sasuke."

He sniffs, annoyed, "Already have."

"The Avatar."

He turns, "Come again?"

It all happens very quickly. Naruto loses balance in his haste to move, following forward into the other boy. And the classroom suddenly becomes very, very quiet.

Their teeth clash together and he can feel blood drawing his mouth. Sasuke's nose is smashed up against his own, his canine teeth digging into lip.

There are lips on his mouth.

_Sasuke's_ lips are on his mouth.

It lasts all for but a second.

They rip away, gagging and clawing at their throats, hissing like shot animals.

"Naruto, you jerk," he hisses, "I'll kill you!"

"You—" he chokes instead, heart pounding against his ears. "You're the Avatar?!"

He challenged the Avatar.

_He_ challenged the _Avatar_.

"Sasuke-kun!"

"Naruto, I was supposed to be the Sasuke-kun's first kiss!"

And kissed him in the same breath, what the fuck.

"Children," Iruka's face is pale and he would've laughed had it been any other situation.

(What the fuck.)

He eventually hordes them away, pushing them back into their seats, as they whisper excitedly to each other. The girls glaring at Naruto in particular and Sasuke with an absent, profound look in his face.

The blond rubs at his jaw nervously, is this considered a war crime in the Fire Nation?

He pales. Are they going to put him to death for this?

(Is kissing the Avatar a crime punishable by death?)

Iruka turns to him, motioning him to sit down. He quickly does, falling into the empty seat next to Sasuke, scooting as far away from him as possible, in the unfortunate case that he does decide to exact his revenge.

He looks at him briefly, cuddling his aching jaw and bloodied gums, and wonders if kissing is supposed to hurt that much.

_____

It takes all but five minutes for everyone to come to the same consensus: Sasuke absolutely _sucks_ at airbending.

Now, it could range from a multitude of things, from his poor spirituality, to an incompatibility of personality, to the disaster that had just happened five minutes ago.

Iruka-sensei is patient, much more tentive and careful than Kakashi's half-assed training, but even he is beginning to show his disappointment.

The air blows back into Sasuke, fluttering his bangs softly.

(The Avatar who can't airbend.)

He makes an angry grunt.

The students look on, disappointed, whispering quietly to themselves.

This is humiliating. He doesn't even care about their perception of them, but this is humiliating.

He feels like a caged animal, a dancing bee monkey who can't quite get his tricks right.

(He can't focus.)

He looks to the source of his distraction.

Naruto is crouched over a slug, poking at it with a stick. He looks up suddenly, as blue and brown meet. Sasuke jerks, turning away.

Asshole.

Asshole who challenged him without knowing who he was and then fucking, fucking, _kissed_ him of all things.

His jaw still hurts, his teeth still shake. His mouth tastes like iron and there is a patch of skin ripped from his lips. Who even does suddenly?

(It had tasted like miso.)

He twitches suddenly, losing concentration, and the wind leaps from his hands, crashing into a nearby tree.

He winces at its impact.

(Were kisses supposed to hurt that much?)

"Let's take a break," Iruka smiles, patiently, much more tentative than his own teacher. "Students, let Sasuke have a moment to himself."

The onlookers groan, disappointed, before dispersing through themselves, searching for another source of entertainment. Naruto continues to poke at the slug, obliviously.

Sasuke sighs, irritatedly.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," he says. "Today is just a demo. You'll start the real thing with the Council tomorrow."

He grunts, turning away, stuffing his hands in his pockes, frustratedly. Iruka smiles at him, warmly, and wanders off to tend to something else.

Naruto looks up.

And Sasuke has a bone to pick.

He clenches his fists and storms up to him, haughtily.

Naruto grins mischievously, rising to the challenge. "What?" he mocks, "Need help from a pro-bender?"

He crosses his arms, lamely. "As if someone like you could ever become a master."

"Aw, don't be mean, Sasuke-chan," he teases, grinning. "I'm always up to helping you."

His eyes twitches. "Do you know how I am," he asks once more.

"Yeah, yeah," he says, waving his arms dismissively. "The Avatar. Avatar Sasuke, blah, blah, blah child of prophecy— and all that shit."

Is he stupid?

"You kissed me," he blurts before he can think better to stop himself.

Naruto looks up, flustered, tan face turning pink with embarrassment. Sasuke can feel his own cheeks heating, "I—"

"And challenged me," he changes the subject quickly.

He huffs, "Yeah, so? You think knowing you're the Avatar will change anything? I'll kick your ass either way."

The firebender stares at him, bewildered. He is either the ballsiest person he's ever met or the dumbest.

He's not sure to be mad or speechless, that someone had challenged him before they knew he was the Avatar and didn't seem to care either way.

An odd, smokey smell begins to plague the air.

Sasuke briefly wonders if Kakashi is burning something down.

He opens his mouth, "I—"

"Well," his teacher speaks suddenly and Sasuke jumps at the hands on his shoulders, "that was a disaster."

He whips around to antagonize him, "Eat shit," he decides, quickly. "You've been missing all day and you only show up _now_?"

The "after I humiliated myself' hangs in the air, unspoken. Naruto looks between them, confusedly.

Kakashi clicks his tongue, playfully. "Nah, nah, Sasuke. You don't need me to hold your hand every step of the way, do you?"

(If looks could kill, Kakashi would be a dead man.)

"Eh," Naruto squints his eyes, "you're the weird guy from yesterday—"

His teacher deflates.

"None of your business," Sasuke snaps, pushing him away, and Naruto shouts at him for his blatant rudeness. His sensei stares down at him with an amused, quirked eyebrow. He hisses. "Stop introducing distractions!"

Kakashi rolls his eyes, "You're doing perfectly fine, Sasuke," he says, already knowing what his student is getting at.

"I'm not progressing fast enough," he snaps. "I'm not strong enough yet."

The white-haired man sighs, tiredly, already having had this conversation many times before, "You're progressing just fine. Most Avatars don't begin training until sixteen."

Sasuke's frown twists further downwards.

(He had been given special permission due to his... _circumstances_.)

"You don't have to be a prodigy in everything."

He twitches.

(No, but _Itachi_ had been.)

Sasuke is no comparison, even as the Avatar.

Uchiha Fugaku had been blessed with two prodigal sons and the most talented hadn't been him, not by a long shot. That difference had costed him his life.

Kakashi sighs, dejectedly, thinking of a way to diffuse the situation as he always does. "Why can't you do something normal like other kids your age?" he pauses, thinking, a mischievous smile growing across his face, "You know, like, _kissing_ —"

Sasuke jerks up, "You saw that?!" he hisses.

His teacher's grin is distinct despite his mask. He wiggles his eyebrows, "I thought it was quite romantic~"

He is going to die.

Kakashi is never going to let him live this down. He's gonna hold this against him forever—

"—I have to say," he muses, rubbing his chin, "I never thought you were into guys. I mean, not that I thought you were into girls either, but—"

Red smoke billows overhead.

The students stop in their play, rushing to the fence to point and whisper. Iruka's face turns a deadly pale and Naruto jogs over to watch.

Sasuke looks to the sky, curiously, a warning signal? Is that what he had smelled earlier?

Iruka claps his hands together, loudly. "You all know the drill!" he shouts, "Let's get moving!"

Kakashi is silent. Hiruzen had said the war wasn't expected for years, could it be happening now?

"Why should we go into the mountain caves?" one boy demands, "Just let the Avatar handle it!"

His classmates croon in agreement.

"Yeah, let the Avatar handle it!"

"Yeah, let him do it!"

"Let him fight!"

He can't.

He's only mastered fire. He's barely started wind—

"Our sources lied," whispers the black and white spirit. "The Avatar is already here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not really satisfied with this. I uploaded this about two weeks ago, but it flopped and I didn’t really like it. I decided to edit and add some more substance to it. I hope it’s better now. If you have any questions, please let me know! I’ll always try my best to explain.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Worlds collide.

Sasuke is frozen, body still and unmoving. The split spirit stares at him and bares its sharp-pointed teeth. " _Little Avatar_ ," it croons, "don't mind me, I'm just observing."

Its empty yellow eyes dance amongst the gathered ground, searching.

"Who are you," he demands, for a lack of better tact.

"Sasuke," Kakashi warns, reaching out to him, protectively.

And the spirit grins, a vacant, sharp-toothed smile. "Itachi never mentioned how young you were."

_Itachi._

He jerks, startled and alarmed. His sensei reaches to catch him. The ground shakes with an explosion in the distance, echoing loudly through the surrounding mountains. Red alarm smoke blooms from the trees and the children scream, dispersing in every direction.

Acting quickly, Iruka grabs Naruto by the arm and slings him over his shoulder.

"Ack, Iruka-sensei!" he cries.

The black and white spirit sinks back into the earth from which it came without another word.

Sasuke jumps, flicking a hurtle of flames towards it as it disappears.

His mind is racing a mile a minute, pulse beating rapidly in the expanse of his chest. They're being attacked. The war, is the war starting already? His mouth is drier than the Earth Kingdom's sand village.

Kakashi grabs him and makes to run.

"What are you doing," he hisses, trying to wrangle from his grasp to no avail. "I have to fight them!"

He's the _Avatar_ , for gods sake.

His teacher ignores him, naturally.

He tries to burn him, but Kakashi puts the fire out before it can do any damage. "Let me go!" he demands, angrily, "They know about him!"

(They know about Itachi. He's not about to let this opportunity slip past him, by God.)

"They," Kakashi informs, dodging behind a large piece of debris. Milky white eye darting across the red sky, keenly, "are an international terrorist group. _You_ are five feet tall."

The ground shakes vigorously, screaming echoing through the distance.

Sasuke attempts to burn him once more.

"If this is Akatsuki is attacking," he hisses, "why are they doing it now? There's no Tailed Beasts here."

As far as he knows, there are none in the human realm at all. How they plan to get them is beyond him.

Kakashi, however, is unconvinced. "I have an idea," he admits, looking into the distance, but indulges no more.

Meanwhile, Naruto struggles against Iruka's grasp, hopelessly attempting to wiggle free from the arms pinning his legs and the hand covering his mouth. Iruka jumps at a sudden explosion and Naruto bites him for release.

His teacher yelps, dropping him instantly. Naruto crumbles into a pathetic heap on the ground. "What are you doing?" he demands, angrily, "I'm not a baby!"

(He's a master air bender he can protect himself, thank you very much!)

"I know that," Iruka's eye twitches, annoyed.

"Then stop acting like it!" he complains, folding his arms his chest.

"Sh!" he hisses, slamming his palm back onto the front of his mouth. (Naruto briefly considers licking him.) His expression is angry, "This is serious!"

"Yes, yes, the temple is under attack," he waves, dismissively. "Hasn't happened in twelve years. Big event, I know."

(He and Iruka are safe, that's all that matters, right?"

"Naruto, this is serious," he says and his eyes are a serious steel that makes his student freeze. He reaches out to him, grabbing his shoulders roughly. "Naruto, there are people out there who will hurt you just for who you are."

His blue eyes glance down, downcast. "You've told me that once already," he mutters. "You don't have to repeat it, ya know?"

Iruka's eyes soften instantly, sadly.

He scratches at his ear, picking for any stray wax within. Temporarily sad disposition already forgotten. "Neh, do you really think they're after me?"

(The thought makes him a little nervously, admittedly, but well, the Avatar seems a more promising award, doesn't he?)

"I'm saying it's a possibility," he admits.

"I could take them," he argues, confidently.

(He's a master bender, after all!)

The ground shakes once more. Iruka looks up the sky, jolts, and shoves them deeper into the fallen temple building. They press their faces against a crack in the debris, anxiously, breaths frozen in their chests.

A strange, hunched figure hobbles through the destroyed street slowly, draped in odd black and red robes, lower face obscured by a ragged black cloth. The sky turns black around him, dozens of stiffened silhouettes following his every move.

Naruto pales.

(So maybe he couldn't take them, whatever.)

He jerks back, startled, knocking into something very much _warm_. He opens his mouth to shriek, but a hand reaches out, slamming against his mouth. His teeth ache in his jaw from the impact. He thinks he can taste blood.

"Idiot," Sasuke hisses, a flame flickering to life in his free hand. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

He rips his mouth away, gagging. (That guy's already been too close to his lips more times than he's been comfortable with). "Shouldn't you be fighting them or something?"

His eyes narrow.

Kakashi, the creep, is positioned not far from them, watching through a small peephole. He looks to them, eyes dancing from the flickering light in his student's hand to the animalistic marks on Naruto's cheeks. His shoulders sink, "Of course," he comments, as if he shouldn't have expected anything else.

Sasuke ignores him, leaning to stare through the debris cracks, eyes watching the army of fridged figures. They make mysterious clicking noises as they move in unison.

"Are those puppets?" he whispers, asking.

"It's possible," his teacher admits.

(Puppet users were rare, as they were usually non-benders who could manipulate chakra without elemental properties. Though, they certainly were possible.)

"Kakashi-senpai," Iruka whispers, moving forward. The bender looks towards them. They look at each other, then turn slowly to the blond situated between them. "The air bison stables aren't far from here. I can lead us there."

"We're not running," Naruto argues.

"That's not very Air Nomad of you," Sasuke comments. He sticks his tongue out at him, prettily.

Kakashi, quite frankly, has to agree. (He's never met an air bender so confrontational.)

"Besides, don't be an idiot," the Avatar continues, he spits out his words like they leave a bitter taste in his mouth but he gets them out, anyways. "There's two of us and a hundred of them."

"Four," he corrects.

He and Iruka-sensei counting.

Sasuke stares at him, lamely.

Iruka reaches out to hit him. "Ow!" he hisses, rubbing the back of his blond head.

"This is serious."

"I know," he grumbles.

Iruka is very, very quiet.

He looks to the outside, where the puppets are shuffling quickly through the debris. (They're minutes away from discovering them.)

"Naruto," he says, looking to him, "lead them to the stables."

His student blinks owlishly at him, "Sensei, we'll never make it—"

(His mind is made.)

"I'll create a diversion," he says.

"What," he pales, "you can't be serious—"

He is unwavering. "It's important you and the Avatar escape. Whoever these people are, which ever one of they are looking for, both of you are too valuable to lose."

"Iruka-san is right," Kakashi pipes up. "We can't let Akatsuki get ahold of the Avatar... or a jinchuuriki."

Sasuke jerks. "Jinchuuriki—"

(What the fuck is that?)

"On the count of five," Iruka begins.

Naruto is beginning to panic.

He is going to sacrifice himself for him again. He came so close to dying the first time, he can't do it a second.

(He won't let him.)

"Four."

He wants to fight and defend his home.

(He hates feeling helpless.)

"Three."

He wants to be strong enough to protect Iruka and his friends.

"Two."

His eyebrows furrow determinedly.

(He will, even if he's not strong enough.)

"One."

"If you die, Iruka-sensei," he says, "I'm gonna kick your ass."

He smiles and his teacher laughs.

"Zero."

He darts out from the rubble, shouting and kicking rocks. Naruto grabs Kakashi and Sasuke and makes a dive for the other end.

Sasuke looks to his teacher, annoyed that they were depending on a school teacher to save their lives. "Can't you help?"

"I'm your charge," he argues, unbothered. (Most skilled bender in the Fire Nation he may be, but Hiruzen would never forgive him if he left the Avatar unprotected.)

They weave in and out through the debris, feet pounding against the broken ceramic street.

Naruto crouches behind a large rock and points to a barn of somewhat damaged stables. "Over there!" he shouts.

They cast a glance over their shoulders, then make a run for it, bursting through the shattered doors. The Air Bison kick nervously at their splintered wooden restraints, huffing anxiously, and Naruto moves quickly to free them.

He leaps onto the back of one with the aid of his air bending. He gestures for the other two to follow, "Come on!"

"It doesn't have a seat," Sasuke points out, gesturing to the wall of saddles in the back. (Is he trying to kill them?)

"Pussy!" he shouts.

The ground shakes once more and he offers no more resistance, clinging tightly onto the bison's white fur. Kakashi closely follows his lead.

Naruto pats its head, affectionately. "Yip, yip!"

The bison leaps through the broken stable roof after its comrade, reaching into the red and gray sky polluted by smoke and warning flares.

The Southern Air Temple is in pieces, devastated nearly entirely.

And Naruto makes a split second decision.

He grabs at the bison's fur like reins, pointing it towards Iruka-sensei's direction. "Over there, buddy! Go!"

The bison needs no further instruction.

"Are you crazy!" Sasuke shouts, holding on for dear life, "That's towards them!"

"I'm not leaving Iruka!" he argues.

(It's his first bond. He almost lost him once and it won't happen again!)

The puppets turn to them as they apporach rapidly. Naruto stands, somehow stabilizing himself despite the winds. "Hey!" he yells, cupping his hands as his mic. "I'm the jinchuuriki— !" — whatever the hell that meant— "You want me?"

They turn slowly towards him.

And Naruto brims like the idiot he is. "Well, come and get me!"

They shoot towards him at lightning speed.

His eyes widen, _shit_.

He drops down, grabbing onto the bison's fur once more, "Back! Let's go, boy! GO!"

Their furry friend has no other qualms with his order, turning his back quickly, rushing off into the clouds, dozens of puppets hot on their tails. Sasuke and Kakashi holding on for all that their lives are worth.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Sasuke shouts, though he knows the question is pointless.

"I didn't think this through!" he admits, defensively, voice partially lost through the howl of the wind.

"No shit!" he yells and Kakashi is too tired to argue. He really wishes he retired right about now.

They break through the clouds, glittering blue sea sparkling beneath them. The loud clanking of the puppets not far behind.

Kakashi moves to pull himself into a safer spot on the bison, so as to not fall off. "Sasuke, catch me if I fall."

He looks at him, scrutinizing his actions, "What?" he says.

He unhinges from the bison and reaches his hand to the sky, slowly. The clouds swirl rapidly in response, graying with every motion. Thunder claps loudly over head, electricity tickling their skin.

"Karin!"

A thousand of bolts of lightning strike down, a brilliant light show of blue and white light, striking into the wooden puppets. The energy blows them apart, knocking into each other, and crashing every single one of them into the ocean below.

Naruto stares, approvingly. "Cool."

And Kakashi nods, before effectively passing out.

____

(If only he had the luxury of staying unconscious.)

When he awakes, it's to a pounding heading and the noise of all too familiar bickering. Kakashi groans, tilting his head to muffle the noise of their arguing. He closes his eyes, letting the sea spray blow into his face.

(Yeah, this could be nice.)

Their stolen bison is floating gently above the ocean, dragging its tail through the flat waves. The bright sun flickering down on them without being too intense...

"You don't know where we're going?!" Sasuke all but shrieks.

(And the moment is ruined.)

Naruto is glaring at him, pretending to still steer their bison with invisible reigns. "I've never left the Air Temple before!" he defends.

"You stole a bison," Sasuke shouts, "and guided us into the fucking ocean with no idea where we're going!"

(Ah, so that's what this is about.)

"I was in a bit of a rush!" he yells, angrily.

(They both have points.)

"No food!" his face is turning red, "No water! No map—!"

"Don't say it!" Naruto yells, irritated.

Sasuke inhales deeply, irritated. "We— are—!"

"—Don't—!"

"LOST!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Perfect!" he shouts, sniffing offensively, "I forgot you never make a mistake!"

He glowers.

(He's not sure he's ever seen Sasuke so stressed.)

"Not one that leaves us stranded— for days on end!"

"Oh, it's been _one_ day!" he snaps.

(As if they were going to die of dehydration in one day. For the Avatar, Sasuke really was a whiny bitch.)

He sits down, holds his knees to his chest, and accepts his fate. "I'm going to die."

Kakashi watches him, amusedly, eye brow raised gently. (He's never quite seen his student so talkative.) He turns back onto his side before they can realize he's awake, briefly praises Naruto for his ability to get under people's skin, and passes out once more.

_____

They do eventually find a boat large enough to carry them. Mr. Ukki— their bison, as Naruto had dubbed him— lands ungracefully on the ship's flooring, swaying them from side-to-side. With one final grunt, he collapses onto his stomach, as his new master showers him excitedly with affection.

The boat's crew seem to briefly reconsider their choice of delivering them to the Fire Nation, but they take one look at their orange and yellow Air Nomad robes and decide the risk of capsizing was more than worth it.

"You guys survivors from the Southern Temple attack?" asks the captain, a bronzed-man with a pipe hanging from his mouth.

Kakashi, the only one of them who wasn't technically an airbender, nods slowly, thinking, rubbing his chin. "Something like that," he admits.

Naruto turns towards him. The question ticks nervously at the fore front of his mind, like an anxious clock never quite on time. "Were there a lot of casualties?"

'Is Iruka dead?' is what he really means. Though, he knows there's no way the captain would have that type of information.

He removes his pipe from his lips, blowing a soft billow of smoke into his face. The blond blanches and swats it away furiously, disguised. The captain leans back, laughing, and smirks, "From what I heard, no," he looks between them, amused. "Some dumbass distracted all of the attackers at once. Probably scattered into a million damn pieces by now."

Kakashi slaps his hand over Naruto's mouth before he can so much as get more than a word out.

"Hey— umph!"

He laughs a little nervously, "Yes, who would make such a silly decision?"

His new adopted child twists wildly from his grip, scowling. And the captain laughs, patting him on the head, before walking away to tend to his crew.

"What was that for?" he snipes, folding his arms over his chest. (He's ridiculously small for his age.) "What's the point of being a hero if you can't brag about it?"

Sasuke stares at him, lamely, and thinks of how his stunt had nearly costed all three of them their lives. "I wouldn't call that heroism."

Impulsive, stupid, and suicidal, definitely. But heroic?

Up for debate.

"Why didn't you tell them you're the Avatar," he demands, instead, insistent to change the topic. (Maybe they would've gotten some good food out of it .)

He turns his nose up, "Being the Avatar isn't some cheap parlor trick."

He has more self-respect than to use it to be sucked up by some shipmates for a few nights.

"Oh boo boo," he scoffs. "If I were the Avatar, I'd be telling everyone."

And really, he would. The thought makes him excited to even consider. There's no way they'd be able to ignore him then!

"Being the Avatar isn't all that great," Sasuke snaps.

Being the Avatar got his family killed, he thinks— and stops that train of thought before it can get any further.

He turns his head away in search of Kakashi, in seek of a new conversation with answers. The man in question is fast asleep, leaning against one of Mr. Ukki's giant paws. His snores sound suspiciously fake.

He's avoiding me, he thinks, irritated.

They left the Southern Air Temple with one more person than when they arrived. A person as equally desired as the Avatar, apparently, a "jinchuuriki". Whatever that was. Though, based on their enemy's known desires, he's beginning to have an idea.

He looks to the sky, where the bright sun beats steadily against the backdrop of white clouds. Whatever, he thinks, it doesn't matter if Kakashi avoids him or not.

He'll take his questions straight to the top, to the Fire Lord, first.

_____

Naruto and Kakashi are swept aside by hopeful attendants, patting their faces with wipes and scratches with ointment. Naruto has a stupid look in his eyes as he ogles the royal palace, jaw practically dragging on the floor. Kakashi allows himself to be swept away for a fresh bath and Sasuke all but kicks down the doors to the throne room.

Hiruzen looks up at him, curious.

The Avatar points up at him, crudely. "You lied to me!" he accuses, loudly. Statements and actions that surely would've sent him to his death had he been anyone else.

The Fire Lord raises an old, weary eyebrow. He motions for his assistant to leave, who scurries out of the room quickly.

"I apologize," he says. "I assure you I had no idea the Akatsuki would attack so soon."

"That's not what I'm talking about," he snaps, to the point as he always is. "You said the Akatsuki wanted Tailed Beasts, but they weren't there for them. They wanted Naruto, _why_."

How the hell did Naruto fit into this?

He was completely unrelated; a talentless, orphaned airbender who managed to somehow have his teacher's affections.

"What the hell is a jinchuuriki?"

"Ah," Hiruzen admits, wearily. "I'm not sure 'lied' would be the correct word."

"Withheld information, then," he corrects, stubbornly, folding his arms over his chest.

The Fire Lord sighs heavily, leaning back into his throne, slowly intertwining his paper-thin hands together. "I apologize once more," he repeats. "I thought I was protecting them, but it seems I only made the situation worst. Had I known, I would've told you sooner."

His eyes narrow, "Protect who?"

"Jinchuuriki," he answers, simply, as if it were so much less complicated than that, "the human bodies of the Nine Tailed Beast Spirits."

Sasuke's world stops in its tracks.

( _Human_ bodies.)

He tries to imagine it. Naruto, a vessel to an evil spirit, older than the history of the Avatar himself. It's impossible, he wants to say. He was the only one like that, a human with a spirit sealed to their very being.

_He's like me_ , he thinks suddenly, freezing his whole body like ice.

"What the fuck," he settles for instead.

"Sasuke," he says, wearily. "You must understand... Jinchuuriki are... highly valuable, highly mysterious people. I knew the Southern Air Temple had one, but never in a million years did I think you would cross paths. Let alone return with him here..." he mutters.

(Things had certainly taken an unexpected twist.)

Sasuke looks up at him, as if everything is flowing one ear and out the other. His expression is blank, disassociated, and empty. He turns, wordlessly, and exists the room.

Naruto watches him, walking to stand by Kakashi's side as the man pats his hair dry. "What's wrong with him?" he asks, pointing.

He glances back over his shoulder to him. (Should he go after him?)

"He needs some alone time," Kakashi promises, milky white eye seemingly unconcerned.

(Sasuke never did respond well to competition.)

His tone becomes serious. "Are we at war?" he asks, as bashful as his student.

Hiruzen sighs, seeming even older beyond his years. "Not yet," he admits. "The Southern Air Temple refuses to go to war and the rest of us cannot declare it on their behalf," he pauses. "Though, if war comes to the Fire Nation, I will do everything in my power to stop it."

(Peace must be maintained as long as possible.)

Kakashi is quiet, "Sasuke's not ready for that."

He tries to imagine it. Sasuke leading a war, ending bloody conflicts between old comrades. (It seems a million years in the future.)

"I know."

They are quiet.

Naruto ticks, annoyed at the silence. (He has never been good at standing still.) He squints, "Neh, ojiisan, what am I supposed to do?"

"Naruto," Kakashi sighs, tiredly. "This is Fire Lord."

The air bender sniffs, analyzing him up and down slowly. He crosses his arms over his, unimpressed. "Whatever," he decides.

Kakashi sighs once more.

(Was his lack of respect to authority due to the airbender disbelief in it or simply his own rebellious personality? He would never seem to know.)

Hiruzen, luckily, doesn't take the matter insultingly. He chuckles, lightly. "You are a fascinating child," he comments, smiling airily.

He's always respected airbenders and their philosophies, spent countless hours pouring over their writings and teachings, but he's never quite met one so... rambunctious, for a lack of better terms.

"I imagine it's not safe for you to return to the Southern Air Temple," he admits, stroking his chin, and Naruto deflates instantly at his words. "You're likely safest here in the palace, with the Avatar and I."

He almost rolls his eyes. (As if Sasuke had been any help protecting him.)

"You can't keep me here!" he scowls, bunching his fists, "I'm not your prisoner!"

He raises a thin eyebrow. "It's for your own safety."

"I was perfectly safe at the Southern Air Temple," he argues.

Kakashi looks at him, lamely. "Which is why you're here now?"

He sticks his tongue out at him, angrily. "I need to make sure Iruka-sensei is okay!"

His teacher sighs, reaching over to pat him on the head, reassuringly. His eyes widen at the casual touch. "How about we send out a message asking if he's alright, yeah?" he suggests, "Will that be okay?"

He is quiet.

"Yes," he lies, a plan already forming inside his head.

As if he'll be cooped up here like a prisoner! To Hell with that. He's gonna find out if Iruka-sensei is okay and nothing is going to get in his way!

He grins. "Actually, can I write the message?"

_____

Perhaps all his troubles reside in the burials of his past, with a prodigal brother and a father who pitted them against each other.

Sasuke was the Avatar, but Itachi was the genius.

In their youth, his excellence had often caused people to mistake him as the young master of all four elements. To which, their father, Fugaku, would disappointedly explain "no, the _other_ son".

Itachi was stronger, faster, smarter, a genius far beyond his years. Their father's favorite above all else... Being the Avatar was the only thing Sasuke had in favor of him.

And yet, even that is becoming less unique.

Hiruzen had failed to disclose the existence of jinchuurikis, spirits and humans who shared one mortal body. A link between the physical and spiritual worlds. A link that wasn't him.

Sasuke knocks his head into the wall. He can't airbender, can't earthbend, or waterbend. And a spiritual failure, to add to the list.

(How the hell is he going to defeat Itachi?)

A loud crashing noise echoes through the outer hallway, interrupting his brooding thoughts, followed by an inconspicuous "shit!".

He glances in the disruption's direction, irritated. "What is he up to now?"

He swings open the grand bedroom doors to find Naruto sprawled out on the hallway ground, waving dust from his face, and kicking away broken wood at his feet.

Sasuke looks up at the large whole in the ceiling. He opens his mouth, "Did you fall through the—"

"Shh—" he hisses, angrily, clutching his knee to his chest. "You guys have really shitty architecture!"

"Big word," he muses, crossing his arms, "where'd you learn it?" He looks to the smashed backpack at his side and raises an eyebrow slowly. "Where are you going?"

Naruto wobbles to his feet, sniffing. "None of your business."

"You're not planning on escaping, are you?" he asks, lamely. (The idiot really is suicidal. It's almost admirable.)

He glowers at him, "And if I was?"

"You would die of dehydration," he says, reaching down to pick at the contents in his backpack. He pulls out a handful of crushed candy. Sasuke stares at him, "You only packed food."

He overturns his hand, letting the contents shower to the ground.

"You don't need have any water."

"Why would I need water," Naruto demands, rolling his eyes exaggeratedly. "There's an ocean."

He stares up at him, bewildered. "Are you serious?"

They spent one day on Mr. Ukki's back and a week on a ship, completely surrounded by it. He had to be kidding.

(He was not kidding.)

"How have you lived this long?" he asks, completely serious.

He didn't know salt water was undrinkable. He was trying to sneak out of the royal fire palace. There's no way this guy was bonded with one of the oldest spirits known to mankind.

"Give me that," he grumbles, snatching his pack from his skinny hands. The airbender attempts to stand, but his legs buckle beneath him and he falls to the ground with a yelp.

Sasuke leans his back against the doorframe, satisfied at his pain.

Naruto glowers at him. Gritting his teeth, he tries to stand again, but falls all the same. "Don't laugh at me!" he shouts, loud enough to wake the entire palace.

"I'm not laughing," he smirks.

He sneers, hissing. "As if a little injury will stop me!" He leans against the wall, pushing himself up to walk. His legs wobble uneasily with each step and his nose is scrunched up, miserably failing to disguise his pain.

"Are you done yet?" Sasuke asks, looking at him when he's halfway down the hallway. (His stubbornness was admirable, at least.)

"No!" he shouts.

Annoying at best.

He sighs, resigned, and moves to help him. He slips his arm beneath the other's, leaning all his weight onto him.

"Let me go," Naruto demands, but it's a half-assed statement.

Sasuke rolls his eyes, guiding them back into his room without a word. He helps him settle on a nearby chair, reaching outs to gather his crushed backpack and its remains.

Naruto groans and falls further backwards into the comfortable cushions. His eyelids flutter tiredly.

Sasuke pokes at his injured foot.

"Ow!" he cries, sitting up immediately, "What was that for?"

"Your ankle is twisted," he assesses. "You'll be fine."

"I could've broken my leg," he glares. "How would you know?"

"If your leg was broken, it'd be pointed weird."

"Great," he says, completely unsatisfied. "Now, help me to my room."

"No."

He stares, alarmed. "Eh?"

He crosses his arms. "You're a dumbass," he decides. "This is your punishment."

(Though, he was wondering which one of them he was really punishing.)

Naruto whines.

And Sasuke reaches for the lights, "Good night."

"What!" he yells, "Sasuke, no, wait—!" and the room is enveloped in darkness.

_____

Naruto awakes slowly, neck stiff with a pillow propped beneath it, and a red blanket thrown hastily over his shoulders. (It doesn't take a genius to figure out who put them there.) . "Thanks, asshole," he admits, smiling.

Sasuke's arid, light snores are his only response.

He grins, twisting the blanket further around his shoulders. It's nice to have people who care about you, he thinks and drifts back to sleep.

_____

He really hopes Iruka-sensei is okay.

He won't let himself think otherwise.

_____

The jinchuuriki scratches the whiskers on his cheek, unamused. "You're a shitty airbender," he complains, as if he were one to speak.

His "student" sneers, pushing his bangs out of the way. "You're a shitty teacher," he snipes back, irritatedly.

And it was a hardly a lie, an understatement at best.

(Naruto preferred using sounds rather than explanations to demonstrate his techniques, which did not help Sasuke's naturally shitty airbending.)

(He wishes they had escaped with someone more capable at least.)

Far away, from a safe distance, Kakashi watches them with an amused twitch to his lips. His back propped up against his favorite bench and his hand tucked safely around the corners of his favorite book.

He'd never thought he'd see the day Sasuke struggle with anything but manners.

It brought a smile to his face,

"Ah," he turns and bows slightly in his seated state, "Fire Lord-sama."

Hiruzen nods to him, acknowledging, hands folded neatly behind his back. His old eyes watch the the two boys in front of him, upturned with a smile. "They seem to be getting along well," he muses.

Kakashi follows his gaze, wearily.

"It's a miracle they haven't killed each other by now," he admits.

Though, he can't help but agree. (He's never seen Sasuke take to someone so quickly.)

They clash constantly, but they fit together like pieces, perfectly molded to each other's faults. In a matter of weeks, they speak like close friends than the acquaintances they're supposed to be.

Hiruzen looks on, quietly. "He's not taking to air bending well, is he?"

"No," Kakashi agrees. "He's not much of a spiritual person."

Sasuke was perhaps the worst spiritual person he knew, including himself.

The Fire Lord looks amused, lips twitching to a smile. He and bows and turna away, striding towards them, robes flowing softly against the court floor.

Sasuke looks to him and bows slightly in disgruntled acknowledgement. "Lord Hiruzen," he says.

He jabs his shoulder sharply into Naruto's chest to do the same.

The boy coughs, "Ack—!— bastard! Ahh, Hiruzen-sama."

He chuckles, "May I?"

They look at him curiously.

He stretches his feet, spreading his arms, robes swaying gently with his motions. "You are approaching it like a firebender. Fire bending is alive and powerful, but air bending is gentle and indecisive."

Every element had a personality and fire and air were no different.

He twists his arm, a gente funnel of orange fire flickering around his motions. His movement is strangely foreign.

Naruto crosses his arms. "That's what I did!"

"No, it's not."

"Shut up, Sasuke!"

Hiruzen smiles, softly. "You both are too forceful, head strong, and brash. Air bending is smooth and requires patience."

(A lot of patience. Oh, how he wished he was born an air bender.)

Sasuke scowls, grumpily. "I don't have time to waste on being patient."

"And that," he folds his hands neatly behind his back, "is why you are struggling with it. Avatars struggle with the element that greatest counteracts their personalities. For Avatar Hashirama, it was fire. For you, wind."

He muses, quietly. (So, even the God of Benders had his weaknesses, huh?)

"Neh, ojiisan," Naruto squints. "How do you know so much about air bending?'

Sasuke slaps him.

He smiles, but takes no offense. "I'm a fan of Air Nomad the philosophy. One of my students. Jiraiya, also used to have an airbending student."

He beams. Perhaps back in the day before the last war when international training was more common. "Cool!"

(He wonders if he knows him, huh.)

Naruto turns away, exhaling softly. Drawing his arms back, he mimics his movements with a startling precision. Wind flows easily beneath the tips of his fingers, tickling the soft of his palm.

His eyes widen. "Hey, it worked!"

(Maybe he really should have listened to Iruka-sensei more, huh.)

He grins, "Sasuke, try it!"

The Avatar, in question, makes a grunt of frustration, but follows suit anyways. He withdraws and makes a series of short, jabbing motions.

Nothing happens.

His eyes narrows. Hiruzen's smile wavers.

"You're doing it wrong!" Naruto shouts, reaching for him, oblivious to the pregnant mood.

Sasuke is shocked out of his angry stupor at his touch. "Dobe, hey—!"

He positions himself behind him, despite being a whole head shorter. He grabs onto the back of his wrists and guides him slowly through the actions, ignorant to the boundaries of physical touch.

(Sasuke can feel his heart in his head.)

He pulls away suddenly, stiffly. "Let go of me," he says, pushing him away to practice the moves.

He closes his eyes. (If that idiot can do it, he can too.) And exhales.

The wind rushes beneath the expanse of his palm, circling his body in a memorizing motion. His eyes widen, a small smile pulling at the edge of his lips. Naruto cheers.

"Don't get so excited, usuratonkachi," he says. "I only got it because of the Fire Lord. You're still a lame teacher."

He grins, pointing at him. "Just you wait, asshole! I'll make you a master airbender!"

"Oh?" he asks, tilting his head. He cocks an eyebrow, amused. "I thought you were gonna be the best air bender in the world. Why are you teaching me, then?"

(Fuck.)

(He didn't think of that.)

He clutches his ears and screams, "I didn't think of that!"

_____

When he receives the letter, it's hours after his discharge from the infirmary following his third failed escape attempt. He nearly falls out of his bed from joy, nearly injuring himself all over again.

"Gimme! Gimme!" he shouts, swiping the scroll from the messenger's hands. (There's only one person in the world who would send him letters.)

The whole world exhales with relief when he sees Iruka-sensei's tiddy handwriting scrawled against the outer shell.

He unravels it quickly, ignoring Sasuke's remarkably annoying expression. He clutches it to his chest and looks to him with a grin. "He's alive!"

His smile is small enough for only someone who knows him to recognize.

"Hm."

_____

The scroll, in fact, is dated only two days after they had fled the Southern Air Temple. As it turns out, Naruto's near suicidal distraction had saved his life, resulting in a maximum of minor injuries to his personnel.

Though, unfortunately, Iruka admits to him, everyone seems to be under the misconception it had been Sasuke.

"Konoyaro," he mutters, shaking the scroll viciously in his hands. (Always stealing the spotlight!)

In his inked words, his Escher laughs and points out he knows Naruto is the only one dumb enough to do something so remarkable. He apologizes for their separation and the further delay of his air bending tattoos.

(He promises to reschedule for when he returns.)

He hurriedly pulls out another scroll and almost immediately begins to write back.

Sasuke looks over his shoulder at the illegible mess of chicken scratch on the parchment. "Nobody can read that," he says.

"Shoo!" he hisses, shoving him away so he can't see the nice words he had written about him. "Get lost, fame-stealer!"

He rolls his eyes and walks away.

Damn that bastard, he thinks, irritated. If it hadn't been for him, maybe the temple would've been accepting of him by now.

He presents his messily written scroll to Kakashi the next day, as neither he nor Sasuke were allowed to leave the royal palace.

His teacher looks over him slowly, fixating on the ink splotches on his clothes and the scroll's green outer shell. "Had a little trouble, Naruto?" he asks, amused.

He beams and lies. "Sasuke knocked over the ink well."

____

Days morph into weeks and weeks into months, the days go by, ticking at their endless journey towards their end. They train, they bicker, they argue. They settle into daily routines.

They are confined to the wealthiest place in the nation, sealed away, and far too precious for the rest of the world to see.

He feels like a trapped animal, a shiny gem, a painting too beautiful to be shared.

He should be used to this by now.

(He is not.)

Sasuke wonders along the edge of the palace property, as he does every morning, overlooking the caldera of the crown city. He twists his hands, a pathetically small burst of wind flowing between his fingers.

It stops without his conscious.

He closes his eyes and tries to relax, but it is to no avail. He had been only able to complete the basics with varying results. The element of patience, of flexibility, and spirituality.

The element of freedom.

It's no wonder he can't get a grasp of it.

_____

Naruto falls onto the cushion next to him, widening his legs and hunching his back, casually. The cabinet appear to have an aneurysm at the sight of him and it brings a sick sort of joy to Sasuke's frustrated young mind.

"Jinchuuriki," Koharu snaps. "Restrain yourself."

He folds his arms over his chest and glares up at her, unafriad. "I have a name, ya know."

She stares back, startled, that a peasant child would speak to her such a way. The Avatar, maybe, but him?

"Koharu," Hiruzen sighs from his throne. "Not now, please."

"It's like you've got two of them now, Hiruzen," she hisses, snapping out of her stupor, gesturing to the both of them, angrily.

(Kakashi had to kind of agree.)

"Apologies," the Fire Lord says, not meaning it at all. He turns away.

"Am I returning to the Southern Air Temple?" Naruto pipes up, excitedly, all but yelling.

"I'm afraid not," he smiles, apologetically. "I've convened with the Southern Council and your old teacher, we all agree: you are safest with the Avatar."

He grumbles, squinting, unimpressed.

"I was attacked the last time _with_ Sasuke," he points out. (The bastard hadn't been any help either, the asshole.)

"And they're unluckily to do it again," Homura promises. "They've learned they'll need to isolate you before attacking again."

He stands up, angrily. "You can't keep me here forever!" he repeats like a broken record. They've all lost track of how many times he's said not.

"We're not," Hiruzen smiles. "That's why we're relocating you to the safest place in the world."

Kakashi's eyes widen. "You don't mean—"

"Yes," he beams. "Ba Sing Se."

Ba Sing... Se...?

"I've never been to Ba Sing Se," he admits, scratching at his chin, and sitting back down. (But then again, he's never been anywhere but the Southern Air Temple.) "What is Ba Sing Se?" he says.

"Baka," Sasuke says. "It's the capital of the Earth Kingdom."

(Ah, that's why it sounded familiar.)

"I knew that," he hisses, lying.

(He did not.)

"And home to the Earth Queen," Hiruzen adds, smiling, "who will be leading the next segment of your training.. Sasuke."

His eyes widen, mannerisms lighting up uncharacteristically excitedly.

"Tsunade is an old student of mine," he promises, "and I'm sure there will be more than enough for Naruto to do in the upper ring."

He perks up with his friend, "So, I don't have to stay in the palace all the time?"

"We'll see," he admits, smiling.

And hopes, somehow, things go according to plan.

_____

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune shouts, bursting through the royal doors.

Her cries startle the queen and her student, knocking them into each other, and piles of paper on her desk. "What?" she complains, hurriedly hiding the sake cup in her robes.

Her eyes widen. "The Avatar is here!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this took so long. I got caught up in finals and the holidays. Life’s been really busy. I’ve reworked this chapter several times, but I’m still not sure about it. I’m not really happy about the pacing, but I hope it’s at least enjoyable... Comments and kudos are appreciated. I’ll answer any questions :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life in the Earth Kingdom. New teachers. A new friend.

The trip to the Earth Kingdom is rather eventless, all things considered, or at least as eventless as travel with two neurotic preteens can be.

"Naruto," Kakashi says, because he is a still little stressed and Naruto is not moving. He looks around at the milling group of civilians, in the crowd of shop stands he had somehow convinced him to go through.

He wiggles through the clothes stands, pulling curiously at colorful fabrics, grinning. "I can't believe they sell more than green clothes here!"

He drags his fingers across the soft fabric and smiles.

"Dobe," Sasuke calls, irritated.

He turns, producing a set of obnoxiously orange shirt and pants. "Look!" he holds them up, proudly. "It even comes with a headband!"

He slips it around his forehead rather than behind his ears.

Sasuke crosses his arms. "You look like an idiot."

He plants his hands on his hips. "I think it looks great!"

_____

The Earth Palace possesses all of the grandeur as its fire counterpart. Giant columns, towering arrangements, and sparkling ornaments. It minimized all its inhabitants, with walls stretching far into the sky.

Naruto is like a kid in a candy store, running round and admiring all of Ba Sing Se's splendor, and Kakashi briefly considers buying him a child leash.

"Ah," says their attendant, appearing more than a little pale. Shizune is a kind woman, pinned by official-looking papers and an eternal look of stress. "A word of warning about the Queen: Tsunade-sama can be quite..." she chuckles nervously, "a bit... much the first time."

A bit much, huh? Naruto rubs his chin. He can't imagine it. Aren't queens supposed to be warm and soft and all that junk?

They all jump at the sound of a woman's furious bellowing.

"Instead of telling your queen what to do," she yells, "why don't you listen to her orders?"

Her poor victim flies out of the main doors, crashing into a nearby wall with an ominous crack. He slumps to the floor, unmoving.

Naruto goes pale.

Shizune's face pinches stressfully. "Ah, it's that kinda of day, isn't it?"

She sighs to her self, woefully, and goes to attend to her comrade.

She chuckles a little tiredly, "Go in without me. She's expecting you."

They nod, wordlessly, turning to continue down the hallway, giant doors looming closer.

Naruto squishes closer to Kakashi for protection.

He pats him on the back, reassuringly.

Sasuke rolls his eyes. He's heard a great deal of rumors about this queen, raging from praise to utter disdain. He, at the very least, hopes she's a good teacher.

The Earth Queen is a monstrous women, from attitude and strength to everything in between. From appearance alone, she is a beautiful and unassuming gem, seated at a desk of clustered papers, half-folded cards, and broken stones.

The imagine is immediately ruined when she flicks her fingers and nearly crumples the entire room around them.

(She is, without a doubt, the best earth bender in the region.)

"What do you brats want?" she demands as soon as they come into her eyesight. She is quite possibly the most beautiful and terrifying woman any of them have ever met.

Kakashi bows immediately. "The Avatar and Uzumaki Naruto, Tsunade-sama."

"Ah," she says, and falls back into her seat, which has avoided damage through all chances. She rubs at her temples vigorously, stressed.

Shizune reappears next to her, rearranging the papers at her desk.

She looks behind her painted fingers and quirks an eyebrow. "I don't supposed Hiruzen mentioned me, did he?"

They look at her, curiously, for the improper use of the Fire Lord's name.

She leans back into her chair, with far too much causality for a ruler of the world's largest nation. "He was one of my grandfather's students," she explains, briefly.

The previous Avatar, Senju Hashirama, had accomplished a great many things during his lifetime. One of them had been traveling the world, taking in any student that he could. Fire Lord Hiruzen just so happened to be one of them.

A sudden thought occurs to Naruto and grins. "Hey, Sasuke, that makes you, like, her grandad, right?"

It has to hold his chest to stop shaking from laughter. It's silly to imagine. Sasuke, a poor-mannered twelve year old, a philanthropic grandad?

He pulls a face. "That's not how reincarnation works, Naruto."

Tsunade makes a noise of agreement. "Don't make it weird, kid."

He pulls his eye down, sticking his tongue out. Sasuke wrinkles his nose at his display. "Gonna yell at me to get off your lawn, grandad?"

Sasuke stomps on his foot.

"Ow!" he cries, falling over to cradle his reddening toes. "Sasuke!"

(Was it because the queen was here? Was he on edge, was that why?)

"Tsunade," he says, without even bothering to tack an honorific onto it. Shizune dives behind the desk, fearful of another attack. Kakashi looks like he's about to have a heart attack.

He bows, slowly, as if it takes all of his willpower to do so. They stare at him like he's grown a second head.

"Thank you, for agreeing to teach me."

She rears her head, seizing him up, gazing from his unruly black hair to his disrespectful. And she smiles. "Keep up if you can, gaki."

_____

Sasuke cannot keep up.

Tsunade fights just as roughly as she rules, all iron fists and head strong replies. .

She swings her leg down, smashing the court yard ground to rubble. The palace seems to shake.

Sasuke stands his ground, bending the rocks back to her, twisting his feet, and slamming them back into the ground. She holds her arm up and they split evenly, diving harmlessly to the side.

He's panting, placing his hands on his knees to stay up right. She is unwavered, still dressed in high heels and a face full of make-up.

Naruto laughs, cheerfully, from where he and Kakashi are watching from a safe distance. "Sasuke's getting his ass kicked!"

"Ma, ma," Kakashi says, stretched out against the floor like a sun-tanning cat. "Tsunade-sama is the most powerful earth bender around. If anything, she's going easy on him."

Sasuke stills, looking up at them. _Easy_.

"What?"

A boulder collides with his chest, flying him backwards, and crashing him into the ground. A sickening crack echoes throughout the court and Naruto jumps to his feet instantly. "Sasuke!"

Kakashi isn't far behind him.

Tsunade looks between them, from their approaching figures to her new student's fallen form, and sighs. She bends it off him, barely missing his fingertips as it scatter.

"You were doing well up until then," she says." Don't get distracted, or you'll get your ribs crushed again."

He wheezes weakly, black spots dancing in his eyes. He clutches his chest, tears pricking at his eyes. He can feel his ribs puncturing the tissues of his lungs, the rapidly decreasing ability to breathe.

"You!" Naruto screams, pointing to the queen. She turns to stare down at him, slowly, but he refuses to back down. She hurt Sasuke, damn royalty! "What the hell is your prob— mph!"

Kakashi smashes his hands over his mouth, sealing them firmly before he can get another world in. He wraps his arms around him, holding him in place. Naruto wretches his grasp, unsuccessfully.

(It would be unhelpful if their only located jinchuuriki was executed by the Earth Queen.)

Tsunade, however, as they are beginning to learn is full of surprises.

She chuckles, humorously, kneeling down to his eye level, mockingly. He stills, fearfully, and her red lips pull into a smirk. She tilts her head, interestingly. "Ah, you got guts, don't you, gaki?"

(She likes this kid.)

(It's been a while since anyone's stood up to her.)

She pats him on the head, laughing.

He gawks, wordlessly, staring up at her, terribly confused. Kakashi's hand over his mouth slips. "If you killed him—!"

"Relax," she turns her back, kneeling down to her new student's side. Kakashi lets him slop from his grasp. "Now shut up and watch."

Green chakra glows gently from her hands, hovering over Sasuke's chest a hair length distance away. His breathing becomes less labored, his twitched expression less painful. In minutes, he's sitting up, drained and pale but very much alive.

He touches the skin of his chest and winces.

Naruto grabs him immediately, and Sasuke far too tired to fight him, allows him. His fingers slip beneath his training shirt, dragging across his goose-bump flesh in search of an injury. Scrapes, bruising, blood, the shattered ribs he had expected to find.

Only to be met with nothing but Sasuke's smooth unmarred skin.

He's okay, he realizes, suddenly, and the whole world lightens.

He looks up at Tsunade, grateful and bewildered beyond belief. "How—"

"I'm a healer," is all she says and moves to fix the court yard.

He looks to Kakashi, expectedly.

He sighs, resigns himself, and tries to think of a simple explanation off the the top of his head. "What's the power that fuels bending?" he owlishly.

The blond blinks up at him owlishly, lamp-like blue eyes.

He decides to answer himself to speed up the process.

"Chakra," he says. "It's the energy of life and every living being possesses it. Humans have a certain adaption to it, which allows them to control an element within the same elemental chakra as their own."

Naruto scratches the whiskers on his cheeks, cluelessly.

He exhales. "People with fire type chakras are firebenders. People with water type chakras are waterbenders."

"Oh," his expression lights up, immediately, and Kakashi smiles. (He could be an effective learner if taught properly). "I'm an airbender, so I have air chakra, right!"

"Yes," he agrees, impressed. "But not all humans have elemental chakra—"

"—non-benders," he blurts, enthusiastically. "They're nonbenders, right?"

He nods, approving, and Naruto cheers, happily.

"However," he continues, "because they still have chakra, they can train themselves to use it in other outlets, outside of bending."

"Like her healing," he grins, looking down to Sasuke who is still struggling to catch his breath. "But she's an earth bender, how can she do both?"

"It's a complicated process," he admits. "One would have to strip away their own elemental chakra into its basic form. It's a difficult procedure but not impossible."

His eyes widen. Cool.

He clings onto him, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! Teach me that!"

He pats him, reassuringly, "I don't know it."

"Wa," he hangs his head.

"Assholes," Sasuke calls, grunting weakly. His face is still pale and he looks close to passing out. "Help me."

"No," Naruto smiles, pretending as if he had not been desperately concerned seconds earlier. He kicks at his leg, playfully, and crosses his arms over his chest, mockingly. "I like when you're on the ground, loser."

"Still taller," he reminds, snickering. The blond squawks.

"Five minute break, Uchiha," Tsunade says, tossing a canteen of water to him and then catches it despite his weakened state. "Then, you're up again."

_____

Sasuke thrives under Tsunade's tutelage.

She's tough, rough around the edges, and isn't afraid to push him further. She's not slacking and disinterested, like Kakashi, or distracting and over talkative, like Naruto. She's brash, straight to the point, and head strong, all of the hallmarks for a great earth bender. And if she breaks a bone in the process, she'll just fix it later.

She pushes and Sasuke's not afraid to push back.

He deepens his stance, pulling his fists up. A wall of rock shoots from the court ground, colliding with Tsunade's incoming attack. He slams his arms forward, flying the debris back at her. The chunks of earth shatter into dust before they could so much as touch her.

She smirks.

They've developed a strange relationship. Not quite a student and his teacher and most certainly not friends, but two hot-headed assholes who appreciates the other's tact.

_____

Naruto feels... left out.

Sasuke has a new teacher. And he doesn't. He's progressing beyond him, leaving him behind again.

Tsunade, luckily, picks up on it, quickly.

"Oi, brat," she greets, striking him upside the head.

"Ow!" he grumbles, dramatically, holding the growing welp on his head. He scowls, "Ya know, for a queen, you're a real asshole!"

She laughs, humorlessly, perfectly unbothered. (He still thinks she's pretty cool anyways.)

She slugs her arm around his neck, leaning her weight onto his shoulders. She's nearly twice his size and eoutpowers him easily. "Sulking doesn't suit you, brat," she mocks, pulling at his ear, playfully.

He sneers, swatting her away. "I don't sulk."

He freezes immediately. (That sounds like something Sasuke would say.)

She grins, evilly, knowing she's already snatched him. She bows her head, expression changing suddenly. "You're the jinchuuriki, aren't you?" 

It's a statement more than it is a question.

Naruto stares up at her, alarmed. (She knew but wasn't afraid?)

"You knew?" followed by, "Grandpa Hiruzen told you."

She leans back, "He didn't have to."

He blinks.

She motions for him to sit, gesturing to a window seat out looking the court yard where Sasuke is running drills. "I know Hiruzen. An annoying pacifist, absolutely in denial of his own consequences," she says. "He didn't teach you a thing about being a jinchuuriki, did he?"

"Uh, no," he admits, scratching his chin. But he had thought there wasn't much that the Old Man knew. "He kinda explained the basics. A human and a spirit sharing a physical body, kinda like the Avatar, ya know, but without the whole 'bender of all four elements' stuff.”

"There's a lot more," she promises, irritated. "The man thinks he can protect you through ignorance, but he's senile and has been for years."

He folds his arms over his chest, stubbornly. "Don't talk about Old Man Hiruzen like that," he snaps. "He's helped us a lot."

He took him in when he had no where else to go, sheltered him when his home temple had been destroyed. Led him to Sasuke and Kakashi, gave him a friend his own age when he had none. (He won't let him be slandered so easily.)

Tsunade shakes her head, annoyed but unsurprised. She drags her painted fingers against the stone pillars, looking off into the distance. She notes the ridiculous precision and perfection her new student bends with.

(It would've been impressive had she been anyone else, but she has no interest in prodigies.)

She turns. "If you are interested in learning more about being a jinchuuriki, I know someone who is more than capable of teaching you."

He... he can finally catch up to Sasuke!

"Finally!” he grins, “Who's this guy anyways?"

_____

Sasuke is _not_ jealous.

"What do you mean Naruto's getting a new teacher?"

No, he is not jealous.

He has the Earth Queen as his teacher, why would he be jealous?

Kakashi ignores his scathing tone, continuing to proofread his weekly reports to the Fire Lord monotonously. "It means he's getting a new teacher."

His eyebrows twitch. They've already been spending less time training together since he started with Tsunade. He's been progressing in that time, but a new jinchuuriki teacher means Naruto can catch up too.

Despite the not-jealously, he can't help but feel a little grateful his friend found someone to help him understand himself further.

But he'd rather die than admit that.

He folds his arms over his chests, "That's stupid."

His mood changes quickly as he switches for the theatrics. He throws his arms up, "Tell me about it! Both of my students are leaving me!"

He looks at him, lamely, recalling his sensei's relief when Tsunade announced they would begin immediate training, and snickers. "Naruto's not even your student," he points out.

He places his hands over his chest, woefully. "But it feels like it."

With all the nagging and overseeing he did with the two, he was more Naruto's guardian than he was Sasuke's, at this point. Sasuke, at least, could get himself out of trouble, most of the time.

He looks to the ceiling dozens of feet above him and then back down at his student, grinning stupidly. "Nah, Sasuke, don't worry too much. You're still my favorite."

And he turns away, quickly, disgusted.

"Gross."

_____

Jiraiya is, quite possibly, the lamest person Naruto has ever had the misfortune of meeting. And that's including Kakashi.

He seems cool at first, with his long white hair, red facial markings, and traditional clothing. It's ruined by the first time they meet, when he catches him trying to sneak into Tsunade's bedroom for a pair of her underwear.

Tsunade strikes him hard enough they have to relocate him to the medical bay.

"Ah, Tsunade," he chuckles, wearily, grinning. "You've still got it."

"You're embarrassing, Jiraiya," she hisses, humiliated, tightening the gauze over his chest a bit too rough.

Naruto leans over to Kakashi, attempting to whisper. "Are they friends?"

(They were being weird.)

And because Naruto is physically incapable of whispering, the rest of them had heard.

Jiraiya flashes him a mouth full of white teeth. "Old friends, actually."

He blinks, "Eh?"

He wiggles his eyebrows. "Tsunade's not as young as she seems, eh?"

He looks up at her, intrigued, as if this young woman barely scraping her thirties was in her fifties. Tsunade snarls, darkly. "Not a world."

And he grins, brightly. "Of course, granny."

_____

"So," Jiraiya says much later, when Tsunade refuses to heal him anymore and he's guilt-tripped her into further company, "you've got a soft spot for the kid, huh?"

She thinks of the Uchiha boy, who was about exciting as a slab of concrete.

"No," she decides.

"No?" he repeats, raising his eyebrows. He's smirking. "If anybody else called you granny, they'd be in worse shape than I am."

(Oh.)

He chuckles and gestures to his array of broken ribs.

"Naruto," she says, fiddling with medical supplies in an attempt to seem busy. "Yeah, he's a good kid."

"The jinchuuriki?" he asks and she nods.

"He's bit of an airhead," she admits, fondly, "but he's got a good heart."

Certainly better Avatar material than the other boy, she thinks, offhandedly.

"You like him," he says, the unspoken why hanging in the air.

And well, Tsunade's never been a talker, but Jiraiya doesn't blabber about these things.

"He reminds of Nowaki," she confides, softly, touching the blue crystal necklace at her neck.

"It's the haircut," he snickers.

She hits him.

"Ow, ow! Tsunade, still injured!"

She groans, turning away, grumpily. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"I'm glad," he chuckles. "Always nice to see you adopting every dumb kid you meet."

"I'll break your spinal cord this time," she threatens.

He laughs, "Sorry, sorry."

_____

"Pervy sage."

Damn whatever Tsunade says, he’s gonna be this kid to the South Pole and back. At least Nowaki wasn't a hypocrite. This kid's not even subtle about staring at her nursing students walking by.

"Let me think, kid," he says and shoves him away, watching him bicker routinely with his Avatar comrade.

Maybe a change of scenery was in order.

_____

Sasuke folds his arms over his chest. "What do you mean you're leaving?"

Naruto grins, mockingly. "Don't tell me you're jealous."

(He was not. He's been confined to palaces before, at least this one was bigger.)

He tilts his head, rolling his eyes. "That you're gonna be traveling with some weird Fire Nation sage to learn about the evil chakra spirit in you? I'll pass."

"Whatever," he huffs. "More fun than throwing rocks."

"Earth bending," he corrects, irritated.

"Whatever." He sticks his tongue out. "Don't miss me, loser," and turns his back to run off with his traveling pack.

He turns away. _As if_ , he thinks.

And wonders just how lonely he'll be in his absence.

_____

The Earth Kingdom is huge, miles upon miles of open fields stretching from plain to plain. Fields upon fields of grassy hills as far as the eye can see. A far cry from the secluded fire palace or the Southern Air Temple.

Naruto rolls around in the grass and wild orchids until he has stains and dirt imprinted into his clothes. Jiraiya watches him, amused, arms crossed, like an owner to their unruly dog.

"What, kid. Never seen grass before?"

He sits up. "Not this much!"

(The high altitude of the Air Temples often left little or barren grass.)

His eyes are sparkling as he gazes across the horizon. Wind fluttering his messy yellow hair.

"I didn't know the world was so big," he admits, then. "Sasuke would love this!"

"Sasuke, Sasuke," Jiraiya blanches. "Do you talk about anything else?"

He crosses his arms, angrily. "He's my friend!"

(His first and only friend at that!)

He raises an eyebrow, curiously. He's not quite sure he'd consider constant bickering and reoccurring fist fights "friendship", but hey... whatever worked for them, he'd guess.

"Alright, brat," he throws his pack onto the ground and takes a minute to sadly admire the little town in the distance. Maybe they had a brothel for him to go to when all this was over. "You know why I brought you here?"

"Jinchuuriki training," he says, easily, beaming. Then his lips downturn and he grumbles, scratching at his cheek, "Though, I don't know what a perverted old earth bender like you would know about spirits."

His eye twitches.

"I'm not an earth bender," he corrects.

Naruto blinks up at him, owlishly. "You aren’t?"

"I'm a fire bender," he says and performs a small series of hand signs that has fire licking at his finger tips.

“Woah!” his eyes are wide, “But you're friends with Tsunade baachan!"

"Yes," he agrees. "I run missions for her, but I'm originally from the Fire Nation. Before he was Fire Lord, that old cod, Hiruzen, was my teacher."

He leans back, grinning. "You know the old man!"

"Somewhat,” he admits.

Naruto hums, crossing his legs over each other. He closes his eyes and rubs his chin, grinning thoughtfully. "I don't get it, though. How do you and Granny know each other?"

"The old man was a student of her grandfather, Avatar Hashirama," he says. "And because they were both royalty, they saw each other occasionally during world meetings. Because I was his student, I tagged along."

"You," he barks, "with royalty?"

He wheezes, clutching at his stomach and the grass in his hands. Looking at him now, old, middle-aged, greasy and a brazen pervert, it was hard to believe this man spent so much of his youth around loyalty.

Jiraiya folds him arms over his chest. "You done yet?"

He giggles, "No."

He sighs. (Tsunade was right. It's hard to hate this kid.)

Though he doubts teaching him will be easy as messing with him.

He pats him on the back, watching the sun dip slowly across the sky. "You ready, brat?"

_____

"I'm not the only jinchuuriki?" Naruto asks, eyes wide. Their midnight fire crackles between them, its light makes his eyes glow. He appears excited just as equally devastated, "There are others?"

Jiraiya nods his head curtly in agreement. He reaches out to twist the fish above the fire once more. "Jinchuurikis are how humans keep track of the Beast Spirits these days. And before he died, Avatar Hashirama sealed each one way under a different person, under different nations.”

Naruto tilts his head, propping his chin with his hand. "Why?" he asks, with wide-eyed curiosity. "Spirits aren't meant to be trapped."

(They were supposed to be free. Like humans, as airbenders, said.)

He can only shrug.

"He intended for them to be peace makers," Jiraiya explains, "chips for peace negations. He was an idealistic man, but he couldn't control what a nation or a village did with their jinchuuriki after it left his hands. And inevitably... they became weapons of war."

He stirs, pulling at the grass seeds on his feet, bored. "Why didn't he fix it before he died, then?"

Jiraiya laughs, leaning back, propping his arms against the tree. "Died before he could. Left it to the Uchiha. The new generation's problem, as it always is."

The blond falls back, groaning. He stares up at the night sky, admiring the twinkling of the dozen stars. He reaches out his arm, trying to grasp them in his hands.

He comes to a conclusion.

"I'm not gonna be a weapon of war," he says.

"Oh?" Jiraiya echoes, propping his chin with his knee. "I'm not sure that's a choice you have. From the day you were born, this was the fate decided upon you. This is why we're both here now, to groom you to perfection for the next war.”

He bows his head slightly. Had Tsunade and Hiruzen had more than one reason to send him here?

"I don't care," he says, stubbornly. "I'll be the best bender in the world, but I'm not gonna be a weapon of mass destruction! I'm an air bender, not a— not a—" he splutters, unable to grasp onto further words. He throws his arms up, frustrated. "Uh, you know!"

He wants to be powerful, he wants to be strong, but he doesn’t want to hurt anybody.

"I'm sure," he teases.

"I'll use my power my way!” he shouts, “Not like— not like—"

"Naruto," Jiraiya groans. He looks up at him, alarmed. "Figure out what you want to do with your demon _after_ I teach you how to handle it, yeah?"

He turns away, blushing, and grumbling. "Yeah, I knew that."

_____

The fox chakra encasing him is hot, blistering like boiling water, encasing him in a moving prison of fire. It feels like hundreds of heated needles pricking his skin, angling through the meat and into his bone. His cheeks are flushed, struggling to avoid overheating.

"This is uncomfortable," Naruto repeats for the dozenth time. He shifts in his seat in grass, irritated.

Jiraiya sighs, tiredly. "It'd be better if you learned to stay still."

"I can't!" he screams, throwing his arms up, falling back into the grass. His cloak of dark chakra disappears with him. He twitches wildly for a few minutes to emphasize his point.

He sits up suddenly, wincing, and reaching out to touch his arm. He pulls his sleeve up, staring at the sickly yellow welts around his wrist.

Jiraiya leans over to investigate. "Chakra burns," he muses. He reaches into his pack and throws a jar of some sorts at him. He catches it, reluctantly, in his free hand.

Naruto reaches out to poke at the welt with one finger, slowly.

He shrieks.

"Don't touch it!"

"It was right there!"

He sighs, tiredly, looking off into the distance, sadly. "Maybe this isn't something we can push."

He looks up at him, curiously.

He smiles, thinking. "What do you say about returning to Ba Sing Se?"

He beams.

_____

_I'm not gonna miss you_ , Sasuke had said, standing at the door when they had left for their journey.

"I didn't miss you," he says again when they return, in the same spot, with his arms crossed over his chest, as if he had not been waiting for hours. "Everything was so much more peaceful without you."

Naruto's eye twitches, and he falls for the bait, as he always does. He grabs him by his shirt collar, "Aye, bastard—"

He crashes their foreheads together and Naruto stumbles back, seeing stars.

Sasuke turns quickly, showing no ounce of pain, and smiles. "Don't leave for so long next time, usuratoncatchi."

_____

It takes one sentence for him to fall in love.

"Naruto, Uchiha," Tsunade says, "meet the top of my medical class, Haruno Sakura."

Her smile is as lovely as her bright pink hair. She bows, respectfully, and beams at the title.

"Avatar-san," she blushes, green eyes avoiding his own. "It's a pleasesure to meet you."

"Hm," he agrees, off-handedly.

Naruto knocks him out of the way. "Don't mind him! He’s an asshole!” he blabbers, “He's not as cool as they say, anyways! I'm way cooler!"

Sakura looks nervous, but she smiles despite it. "Oh? And who are you?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," he sticks his hand out and beams, "the best air bender around!"

She laughs, gently, reaching out to return his handshake. "Haruno Sakura, the best student healer in Ba Sing Se."

"Nah, Granny," Naruto says, looking over his shoulder to the queen. Sakura reacts fearfully to the nickname. "I didn't know you taught people!"

She looks to Jiraiya, wordlessly.

"He really is that thick. Don't think too much about it."

She nods.

He wrinkles his nose. "Eh? What's that supposed to mean."

Sasuke kicks him, lightly. "Nothing your small mind could comprehend, usuratoncatchi."

He whirls on him. "What did you say?"

"Anyways," Tsunade interrupts, patting her female student's shoulders. "Since she's in the top of her class, Sakura will be staying with us in the palace for the next few weeks to continue further training."

Naruto begins to see stars.

"Great!" he grins and grabs her by the hand. He’s immediately made an itinerary of things to do with her. "I'll show her around!"

Sakura looks over her shoulder, nervously, as he pulls her away. "Tsunade-sama—"

"Just go with it," she waves, dismissively. "He's harmless."

"But—!"

"I'll show you all the best places in the palace! And the upper ring! And the middle ring! And the lower ring!"

"Oh— oh, okay!"

_____

Naruto has a crush on Sakura. It's as painfully subtle as he is.

He follows her like a lost puppy, always eager to please and make conversation. Sakura is receptive, laughing at his dumb jokes and striking him when he goes too far. They get along easily, flowing together like two meeting rivers.

It makes Sasuke want to bash his head-in.

Quite frankly, he doesn't get what Naruto sees in her.

Sakura's nice, intelligent, definitely. Strong, somewhat, sure, if she’s able to survive Tsunade’s teaching. Pretty, maybe, but cursed with a bad temper and an awkward disposition. She blushes and stutters whenever they talk, unable to ever say more than a stringed sentence to him. And the brightness of her pink hair is an eyesore, regardless of how cute Naruto said it was.

"What's the grumpy expression for," Kakashi pokes him in the head. "Is the red too crimson?"

He holds up the thin material of a summer yukata for the upcoming summer festival.

“I already have one,” he says and shoves it out of his face. He points to the one already in his hand, a dark blue yukata with the Uchiha fan stitched on the back.

"You're not a water bender."

He stares at him.

Kakashi pauses. "Well, you know what I mean."

He peels his shirt off, slipping his arms through the light blue fabric. "Is there any reason why you're bothering me? I can dress myself."

"Na, na," he says, dismissively. "I just wanted to see my cute students off to the festival."

(He missed them secretly. What a loser.)

As if one cue, Naruto comes barging through the door. His hair is pointing in every direction and the obnoxious orange of his yukata clashes awful against the backdrop of the green palace.

"Stop it, Sakura-chan!" he whines, grasping his head in his hands, fearfully.

Sakura appears behind him, brandishing a hair brush. Her long hair is tied into a bun at the back of her head and the fabric of her yukata is an endearing white and pink pattern.

"I'm not gonna be seen out in public with you looking like that!"

He plants his arms on his hips. "What's wrong with the way I look?"

She huffs, "You know what's wrong with it!"

Sakura was right, Naruto's hair and fashion sense were dreadful, but he would die before he admitted to her.

He grabs his arm, pushing away from Kakashi. "Let's go," he says and steers them out of the palace with her hot on their tails.

_____

The upper ring is decorated with rows upon rows of colorful vendors, stretching as far as the eye can see. Lantern lights hanging from strings in the sky and the smell of fried food wafting through the air.

All of Ba Sing Se was celebrating, but Naruto and Sasuke's status confined them to the upper ring, where the Dai Li can watch over them best.

The wealthy of the upper ring flaunt their money in every way, from the fine fabrics of their clothing to the luxurious prizes at their stands.

Sakura points up at one of them in particular, hand-crotched turtle duck above a fish-catching vendor. "Neh, Sasuke-kun," her face is that strange red color it is when ever she addresses him, "isn't that cute?"

He looks at, apprehensively. "Mhm."

He guesses, he's never really had any fondness for cute things.

Naruto, unfortunately, seems to grasp onto something he does not. (It's incredibly irritating being the one out of the loop.)

His eyes light up, "That's adorable, Sakura-chan! Ne-ne, I can win that for you!"

"Eh?" her head whips towards him, "You don't have to!"

As it turns out, Naruto is awful at catching gold fish and Sasuke ends up winning one for her, anyways.

It leaves the blond irritatingly sullen. He pouts as they walk, arms crossed over his chest, glaring at the turtle duck in Sakura's arms and then at Sasuke himself. "Those games are rigged."

Sakura reaches out to strike him.

"Ow!"

"Just because you didn't have enough talent to win, doesn't mean Sasuke-kun has none!”

"Eh," his face is bright red. "What do you mean?"

(Their bickering is irritating. He’s still getting used to this new dynamic.)

"Shut it, usuratoncatchi," he says. "I'll win you a turtle duck too, if it makes you shut up."

Naruto staggers to a stop, his face red with embarrassment or anger, Sasuke doesn't know.

"Yeah, right!" he huffs, arrogantly, "Like I would need you to win me anything!"

He turns away. "Whatever."

Being with these two is... strange. Although he hasn’t quite warmed up to Sakura yet, their presence fills him with a warm fuzzy feeling. It makes his head spin with misery.

"Sorry, kids," the vendor says, pointing to his remaining food supply. "I only got two left."

"Don't you make more?" Naruto whines.

He shrugs. "Out of batter."

Sakura's face lights up.

"We'll take them," Sasuke says before either of them can get another word in. The man hands the remaining taiyaki to them, a bean cake in the shape of a fish.

He hands one to Sakura.

(She probably wouldn't want to share with either of them.)

"Here, Naruto and I will share."

Her face drops instantly.

Naruto splutters, angrily. "Oi! What makes you think I wanna—"

He splits it and shoves his half in his mouth. Naruto pauses, chewing the bean cake with puffed cheeks.

"I like the one's with chocolate better,” he admits.

Sasuke doesn't answer, eating his own half quietly. Sakura nibbles at hers, forlornly.

She was just happy a minute ago, what's up with her now?

(He'll never understand women.)

They wander around, playing games and stuffing their faces with street food. It's only as the night begins to wind down, when they're looking for a place to watch the fireworks, does the thought occur to him.

(This is the first time he's been to a summer festival since, since...)

"Oi, teme," Naruto calls, poking him in the cheek.

He turns, swatting his greasy-tipped fingers away. "What?"

"You had that weird look in your eyes."

"That's just my eye, dumbass," he grumbles, stalking ahead.

"Well, sorry for being concerned!" he shouts after him.

They gather at the river edge with the rest of the upper ring, crowded together on the bridge and grassy bank. Naruto spreads himself out like a sea star soaking in the sun, happily content.

Sasuke looks at him, fondly.

(He really did miss him, huh?)

"Neh, Sakura-Chan," he calls, turning his head to stare at the pink-haired girl.

"Mhm?"

He wiggles his eyebrows, playfully. "When the fireworks go off, you wanna be my first kiss?"

An ugly feeling seers deep in the pit of Sasuke's stomach.

Sakura pushes his face out of her's, snickering. "As if anyone would want to be your first kiss!"

"He's already had his first kiss," Sasuke says without thinking and immediately wants to slam his head into the concrete.

They both blink at him, owlishly.

"He did?"

"I have?"

"Dobe," he mutters, ducking his head, angrily. "Remember?"

Naruto's face turns red instantly. He splutters, loudly. "That—- that doesn't count! That was an accident!"

(He decides to continue burying his own grave.)

He stares him dead in the eyes. He wants to see him unravel, quit whatever stupid boisterous act he’s been putting on for Sakura.

"You tasted like miso."

Naruto’s face turns impossibly darker and Sasuke can feel his own cheeks heating.

It is suddenly very, very quiet.

The blond is shocked into uncharacteristic silence, mouth moving open and closed without sound. Sakura is looking between them wide-eyed, horrified.

"You guys—" she all but squeaks, "you guys have—"

"It was an accident," he clarifies, standing up. He glares at them, brushing the dirt off his yukata.

They watch him, mesmerized.

"I'm leaving,” he declares.

Naruto reaches out to grab him, roughly. "The fire works haven't even started, teme!"

"I'll be able to see them from the palace," he lies. He turns his back on the two, pushing away before disappearing into the crowd.

(He's pissed off and he doesn't know why.)

"Have fun on your date."

_____

When he returns to the palace, Tsunade, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Shizune are drunk off their asses, spread across a multitude of ruined, fancy couches in the lounge room, as another servant tends to them.

Kakashi lifts his head, wearily. His one good eye searches his face, curiously. "Back so early?" he groans.

"I'm tired," he says without stopping, continuing to walk towards his room.

"Where's Sakura and Naruto?"

"Together," he answers, shortly, and disappears down the hallway before he can get another question in.

He stares at the space his student disappeared and sighs.

Tsunade chuckles drunkly, taking another swing. "Jealous brat."

"Eh?" Kakashi mumbles, turning his head towards her. He moans, attempting to sit up, but fails and falls right back down. Jiraiya snorts at him, humorously. "'S to be expected. It's been him and Naruto for a long time."

Adjusting to a third party, regardless of who they were, was difficult, especially for someone as socially incompetent as Sasuke.

The queen only laughs, daisy yellow hair swaying with her form. "Kakashi," she says, smiling. "For a smart man and all those love books you read, you are bit inept at romance, aren't you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had difficulty writing this chapter at first, I couldn’t get inspired. I posted this about ten days later then I wanted to... I’m kinda wishing I had chosen a different fic to write, but I’ve already started it, so I might as well finish it. I was excited to introduce Sakura! Though it’s not clarified in this chapter, she’s a non-bender in this universe. I also changed Jiraiya’s character a bit. I wanted him to be a little less creepy. Writing the festival was fun, though. I’m not really satisfied with this, but I hope you enjoyed it...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tension rises. Tsunade vs Sasuke. Corruption in the Fire Nation. And the return of an old face.

It's not that he dislikes Sakura. He likes her a lot, really, especially when she can get more than a few words out to him. She's witty, intelligent, and kind.

She's a good friend, really. It's just, weird...

It's been him and Naruto for months, for so long. Just them, Kakashi, and a giant palace that was always far too small.

Tsunade and Jiraiya's occasional additions were fine, mostly. But adding another person, who wasn't a teacher but a kid their age, was something completely different.

Sakura threw everything off.

The rough dynamic he and Naruto had established shifted, and he was no longer the only person available for him to bother.

(But he also wasn't nearly as alone.)

He had someone who he could gang up against Naruto with. Two precious people his own age after a lifetime of being void of them.

It's weird, yes, but... a good weird.

He looks to them, where Sakura is unsuccessfully trying to teach Naruto how to dress a wound. There is gauze and tape littered everywhere, sticking out from their hands and some from their hair.

Sakura rips a piece of misplaced medical tape off his forehead, roughly.

"Ow!"

She smiles, sheepishly, apologetically. "Sorry."

Sasuke drags his fingers against the palace columns, thinking, smiling. He watches as they bicker. Yes, yes, maybe this... maybe this... maybe this wasn't so bad, after all.

______

Sakura leans forward, admiring the way her master and crush train together. "I wish I was a bender," she admits, eyes sparkling. "Things would be so much easier."

Naruto leans back, grinning up at her. He swings his legs from where they're sitting on a post. "Nah, Sakura-chan, you're super cool as you are anyways!"

She ducks her head. "Idiot!" she splutters, soft face as pink as her fine hair. "You can't just say stuff like that!"

He grins, cheekily. "It's the truth. You're an awesome healer as it is."

(Sakura being a bender would also, likely, be significantly more dangerous for him.)

She smiles slightly, propping her chin in her hand. "I know," she admits, quietly. "I'd just feel like I'd be more honorable to my parents."

He looks to her. "Your parents?" he echoes, dismally.

She nods. "They're benders— well, not very good ones, but you get the point," she leans back. "My cousins are really good, though. My whole family's really proud of them."

"Prodigies," Naruto points out, thinking of Sasuke.

She laughs in agreement. "Yeah."

Their short legs swing together.

"But I'm not a bender," she admits, slowly, "so I have to be good in my own way. I worked hard to be accepted into Lady Tsunade's medical class!— and I'm not gonna let it go to waste!"

He tilts his head, grinning. "So, that's your dream?"

Her ears turn pink. "I— yeah, pretty ridiculous, huh?"

"Not at all," he smiles.

(Even if he did think it was ridiculous— which he didn't— she'd punch him hard enough until he didn't.)

He puffs his chest. "I'm gonna be the best bender in the world, ya know! So it's not ridiculous at all!"

She looks at him, curiously. She doesn't seem to believe him, but she entertains him anyways. "Even better than Sasuke-kun?"

He turns his nose up. "I'm already better than that asshole."

(Or, he will be, soon enough. Whatever.)

She snickers and laughs goodheartedly. Sakura kicks off her shoes, wiggling her toes in the warm summer air. "What about you? Do your parents expect anything from you?"

An eerie silence falls between them. Sakura immediately senses she's said something wrong.

Naruto laughs, nervously, slowly scratching the back of his neck. "I don't have parents," he admits, softly. He looks down, ashamed.

Sakura's eyes widen, "Oh."

"But doon't worry about!" he splutters, quickly regaining his usual energetic composure. "Most airbenders don't have families."

"I know," she admits, casting her eyes down. "I'm sorry. You had a surname, so I just assumed..."

"It's alright, Sakura-chan," he promises. "Don't feel bad."

Her expression still flickers guiltily. "Sorry."

"Stop apologizing."

He bumps her shoulder, playfully. "I've been alone, sure, but not anymore! I have you, and Sasuke, and Iruka—"

He smiles and rattles off all the people he knows, from Old Lady Tsunade to Kakashi-sensei to the owner of his favorite ramen stand. To the kind attendants who always greet him warmly to the stall owner who gave him a half-off pric and everyone in between.

(Everyone he's met, he seems to consider a friend.)

"Do you know where it's from?" she interrupts him, when he's only about half-way through his list, at the nice maid who always leaves candy at his bed.

He blinks, owlishly at her, confused and slightly startled. "Where's what from?"

Se kicks her legs, "Uzumaki."

"Oh," he says. "No. I've never known anyone with it either," he looks to her. "Why?"

She looks up to the sky, silently, pink hair swaying gently in the wind. He leans forward, anxiously. She seems almost hesitant to answer him, reconsidering her words over again, as if she couldn't possibly consider herself right. She looks at him, green eyes flickering with concern, worry, and love.

Her voice is so quiet he can barely hear her. "It sounds Water Tribe."

_____

Sasuke sits down in the grass, folding his legs over each other, silently. He props his chin with palm, staring up at Kakashi, lamely. "Is there a reason why we're here?"

His teacher sets his bag down, casually. "Tsunade-sama says you've become quite the earth bender."

"You're changing the subject," he points out.

"I haven't taught you anything in a while," he admits. "I'm slacking on my teaching duties."

(He continues speaking before Sasuke can point out that he has always slacked on his teaching duties.)

"And if I brought Naruto or Sakura, they would demand I somehow teach them something."

"Okay," he notes, unimpressed, still unsure where this conversation is going.

Kakashi sighs, tiredly, form hunching over. This kid makes him age a few years every day. "I'm teaching you how to bend lightning."

Sasuke's head jerks up so fast an audible crack rings through the field. "After all this time," he yells, "only now!"

He crosses his arms over his chest, mockingly, knowing fully well it'll push his buttons. "Don't rush me."

His eye twitches. "It's been years!"

"Bending requires years!"

Sasuke screams.

_____

Bending lightning, as it turns out, is far easier than Kakashi had made it out to be. It feels natural, a vibrant thrum in his veins that is his alone to control. Hundreds of volts of electricity crackling to the beat of his heart.

"You're a prodigy," his teacher notes, when nearly three weeks have passed.

_Like Itachi_ , rings solemnly in his student's head.

He seems disappointed and surprised, proud almost.

He straightens, hair slicked with sweat. "Let's go home," he says. He has new a skill to show off to Naruto, after all.

_____

"I totally didn't even notice you were gone," Naruto lies, spreading out on the palace door steps like it's his home. "Sakura-chan and I spent so much time together!"

He flashes a bright smile at him.

His words bristle at an annoyed button at the pit of Sasuke's stomach. "Whatever," he says, totally uncaring. "While you were off flirting, I mastered a new technique."

Naruto shoots up so quickly he nearly falls down the stairs. Only Sasuke's hand reaching out to catch him stops him.

He splutters, angrily, ripping away from his grip. "What, that's not fair!"

"Kakashi and I were gone for, like, a month," he points out. "What did you think you were doing?"

He grunts, scratching at his whiskers, stubbornly. "He said you were leaving for 'team bonding'."

"And you believed that?"

(He'll never change, will he?)

"Loser."

"Asshole!" he cries out, chasing after him up the palace stairs, determined to make him regret his words.

_____

"Orochimaru," Hiruzen greets, bowing his head. He stands, solemnly, after a long second, raising his old bones wearily from his throne. "I'm afraid the Avatar isn't here."

Orochimaru smiles, thinly, tightly. "No worries, sensei," he draws his arms. "He's not the one I'm looking for."

_____

The news is like a knock in the chest.

"Neh," Naruto says, staring a up at the queen. His form is stiff and Sasuke has gone deathly silent next to him. His eyes are wide, unbelieving "What did you say, Granny?"

Tsunade throws her papers down her desk, rubbing the temples on her head, distraught. "Don't make me repeat it, kid. I've already sent Jiraiya after the perpetrator."

Kakashi looks down to his student, gently, concerned. "Sasuke?"

He makes no movement of acknowledgement. His gaze stares off emptily to the nearby beige wall.

Naruto's eyes prick, tearfully, "—Because it sounds like you're saying—"

"The Fire Lord is dead," she says. "He was killed three days ago. We just got the news."

"Killed," his voice chips, breaking off, like he can't quite believe the word himself. "Killed."

He was the Fire Lord, who would— who would—

"By who," he demands. "Why?"

She sits back down, crossing her over her chest. "None of your business, gaki," there are deep bags beneath her eyes. "You don't stand a chance against them."

(She knows him too well.)

He slams his hands against the table, knocking over paper and glasses. Sakura flinches, the other's do not move. "I don't care if I don't stand a chance!" he shouts, eyes burning. "I deserve to know who!"

(Old Man Hiruzen was his friend. He looked after him, gave him a home and friends. And— and— and... he was ... murdered.)

"He's the best water bender in the world," Tsunade says, slowly, hoping the worlds will dissuade him. "This is already an international criss. I don't have time to look after you and your antics.

A world leader was just murdered— and this kid!— this stupid, stupid kid, who had no idea just how much his life was worth— wanted to chase after him.

"Orochimaru," she says the name like it hurts her very beinf, "is not the type of person you can win against."

She should've known it would've come down to this. His defection, his hatred towards them all.

(Had she made a mistake sending Jiraiya after him?)

Kakashi inhales sharply at the name, a name he's so unfortunately familiar with. "I thought..."

"Who's Orochimaru," Naruto demands, angrily, ignoring the heavy tone in the room. "Who is he?"

Kakashi looks to the queen, who places her head in her hands.

(If she feeds him the information she wants, will he let it be? Will he back off and not get himself into trouble?)

(They're her responsibility now. With the Fire Lord gone, the Avatar and jinchuuriki fall completely into her own domain.)

(Is she placing them in danger by harboring them at the palace? Will Orochimaru come for her next?)

She nods, finally, for him to continue again.

"He was Fire Lord Hiruzen's most prized student," Kakashi explains, slowly. "He was a genius, but he was caught performing human experiments about six years ago. He's been on the run ever since."

"He was my friend," Tsunade says, emptily, eyes a distant glow, "Jiraiya's too."

Their eyes widen.

"You said he's a water bender," Sasuke speaks, finally, as he comes to a sudden realization. They look to him and his is face is stone cold. "Why would Hiruzen take him in as a student?"

(Benders don't take in other elements in, especially opposing elements, like fire and water.)

Tsunade sighs, quietly.. "Hiruzen took him in when the Fire Nation first gain controlled of the Southern Water Tribe."

(... gained... control...?)

Sasuke clenches his jaw. "You mean, stole."

Naruto looks at him, suprised.

His eyes are dark, "Hiruzen stole him."

"Don't act surprised," Tsunade says, leaning back into her chair. She crosses her arms over the chest. "The Fire Nation is notorious for taking in children from enemy nations. Orochimaru is not the first, nor is he the last."

Sasuke sees red. "And you're okay with that?" he demands.

"It's not my nation," she says. "It's not my problem. There's nothing I can do about it."

He slams his hands onto her table, "It's your responsibility! How could you just let your ally steal children from their homes?"

His chest is rising faster and faster, his voice is becoming strained. Hiruzen didn't tell him about Jiraiya. He hadn't toldtell him about Orochimaru either. What other secrets was he keeping from him?

(How may other secrets had he taken to his grave?)

"I'm not arguing with you about this," she states, tightly. "The Fire Lord was murdered and the elemental nations have been thrown into chaos. Anything outside of that is none your business."

Sasuke's eyes narrow. "The last time I checked, I'm Avatar. The Fire Lord being murdered is my business."

She chuckles a little, humorlessly, irritated. Shizune and Kakashi draw back, cautiously. Sakura looks on, fearfully, lip wobbling. "You may think you're all that," she laughs, standing, eyes narrowed. A more terrifying woman has never existed, "but you're nothing but a half-baked Avatar."

They stare at each other, like a thousand meteors exploding into each other. Two exploding stars waiting to swallow each other whole. Their hands shift slowly, positions ready to attack at a moment's notice.

Kakashi pulls Sakura and Naruto back, cautiously. "Sasuke—"

It's like a trigger goes off.

Sasuke jumps into action, barreling a furious funnel of exploding red and orange flames. Tsunade reacts just as quickly, twisting her feet. A wall of rock blocking his aim, effortlessly.

And he's surrounded in an instant.

The ground rises, sealing his arms and feet in cages of rock. The Dai Li jump from their spots in the shadows, preparing for a second attack. They bow their heads, a stone hand slamming over Sasuke's mouth before he can get another word in.

"Uchiha Sasuke," one recites, features obscured by the brim of his li hat. "You are under arrest, for assault on the Earth Queen!"

Naruto jumps in to action and Kakashi is barely able to grab him in time. _Under arrest_... "You son of a—!"

_Humiliating_ , Sasuke thinks, glowering. He raises his eyes to glare back at Tsunade, her gaze is just as venomous. To be bested so easily.

She turns her back to him and sneers, sweeping her feet on the ground. The rock wall protecting her disappears back into the ground. Her expression is unreadable.

"Release him," she says, finally, after a long moment of silence. 

The speaker lifts his head, "but Tsunade-sama—"

"Release him," she states, turning to face him, hands folding behind her back. Her aura is terrifying, threatening and commanding above all else. "All charges against the Avatar are dropped."

There is no room for argument and the Dai Li are not foolish men. He bows his head deeply, kneeling in apologize. The stone cages engaging Sasuke fall away, crumbling to dust. "Of course, my Queen."

"Disperse," she orders and they bow one last time before returning to the rafters.

Shizune looks about to faint from stress. Sakura doesn't seem far behind.

Naruto attempts to wiggle free from Kakashi's grip. "Sasuke!" he calls, desperate to check on his friend, but Kakashi holds him tight and Sasuke makes no move to acknowledge him.

The Avatar rubs at his chin, where the stone had impacted harshly with his face. It would likely cause a bruise, yet it was his ego that took the blunt of the damage.

Tsunade stares down at him, disgusted. If the devil was a woman, this was her form. Her tongue and tone is spitting, "Consider this a warning."

He is quiet.

"Shizune," she calls, in a much gentler but still disgruntled tone.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Prepare their luggage," she says. "They leave on the first boat to the Fire Nation, got it?"

Another order with no room for interruption. Shizune bows her head and runs off to follow through.

_____

Sakura's face is red with stress.

Sasuke glares at her. "Not," he hisses, "a word."

Kakashi takes a seat and sighs deeply, a dozen years older than his true age. He does not have the will to fight him. Sakura folds her hands together, pressing them to her chest. Her mouth opens and closes, wordlessly furious.

Naruto does not share the same problem.

"Sasuke!" he shouts, grabbing him by the collar. "What the fuck is wrong with you!"

He shakes him vigorously, angrily. (What's gotten into him? Why did he attack Granny Tsunade? What the hell is going on?)

Sasuke rips himself free from his grip, pushing him away harshly. "I told you to mind your business," he spits.

"You attacked Tsunade baachan!" he yells, voice tinged with stress. (He's confident Tsunade wouldn't have killed him, but the Dai Li would have no doubt.)

"Naruto is right," Sakura speaks up, finally. "Do you understand just the extent of what you've done?"

"She's heartless," he seethes, turning away. "Does she even care about Hiruzen?"

She grabs him by the shoulders and he stiffens in her grip. "They could've killed you, Sasuke!" she yells. "That's one of the highest acts of treason! Even you, the Avatar, can only get away with so much!"

He pulls away from her, grabbing her by her delicate wrists and pushing hrt away. "Why don't you worry about yourself instead of me?" he demands. "I don't need a babysitter."

Her face glows, hurtfully. "I'm not trying to be a babysitter! I'm just—- I'm just—- worried about you."

"Then don't be," he shoots back, hissing. "I'm the Avatar, I can handle myself."

He turns his back to them and begins to walk away. Kakashi watches him go, silently, knowing his moods were near impossible to intervene when he got like this.

Naruto grabs him by the wrist, harshly, and pulls him around. He all but spits in Sasuke's face. "What the hell is your problem?" he yells, "Sakura-chan is worried about you! We all are! Don't just blow us off!"

Sasuke shoves him in the chest, knocking him backwards. Naruto shoves back with equal strength. "Leave me alone!" he shouts.

His blue eyes grow darker. "No!"

"Why," he hisses, seething, "are you so obsessed with me?"

Naruto stares back at him, words not quite registering. "Huh?"

He leans forward, so close their noses are touching. He can feel the warmth radiating from the anguished firebender's body, a small furnish at full height. "Why are you always in my way?"

"The same reason you're always in mine," he snipes back. He cocks his head, confidently. "We're stuck together. Get used to it."

Sasuke slams the door behind him.

_____

The Air Nomad temple is swamped with guards of all countries and colors. Red, green, and a blue fabrics mixing together with bright orange robes.

Shizune follows closely after her, bowing respectfully to any official looking person they come across.

The conference room is huge, ancient, covered in etchings of ancient benders and air bisons. The leaders of each nation and villages are gathered around the long table, stony silent. None of them seem pleased to be in the other's presence.

"Last to arrive," Danzo says when she enters the room a good ten minutes late. "Your manners are poor as ever, Tsunade."

She turns to him, cooly. (It's no use asking why he's there: he's a representative from the Fire Lord's cabinet, in the obvious absence of the Fire Lord.)

"Queen Tsunade," she corrects him, confidently. "You may be old, but your title is still below mine."

His eyes narrow.

She takes a seat. The leader of the Lightning Village chuckles humorously. Shizune begins.

"Should we begin?" asks the Air Nomad negotiating the discussion. Being the only nation without an army, they were the best choice for neutral ground.

Rasa, the kage of the Sand Village, nestled within her own Earth kingdom, leans back into his chair. He jumps into the conversation immediately. "Orochimaru falls under water country responsibility. The Northern Water Tribe and the Village Hidden in the Mist have failed to take him accountable."

"Orochimaru is not one of our own," Mei argues, firmly. Long brown hair falling behind her elegantly. "The Mist Village is a colony of water benders in the Earth Kingdom. We have only distant affiliations with the Southern Water Tribe!"

"As do we," agrees Hiashi, though it seems to pain him. "If anyone is to blame, it would be the late Fire Lord. He is the one who took in that demon as a child and refused to do anything about him. He let him return to his home, the Southern Water Tribe, and take control of its already withering population!"

"I agree," Danzo speaks, finally. "Hiruzen's incompetence has caused more problems than it has solved."

"Are you really one to speak?" Tsunade mocks. "Your harsh militaristic ideals pose no better benefit."

She recalls all of his harsh military campaigns, that never ended in anyone's favor.

He turns to the other world leaders, ignoring. Her. "Whatever the case, it's been clear the Avatar has not been progressing fast enough."

An Air Nomad representative leans back, wearily. "Are you suggesting we return him to your charge?"

"I am not like Hiruzen," he assures. "I will teach him the best."

"Except," Tsunade intervenes, smelling something fishy aboard. "Sasuke is already a master of fire. There is nothing else he can learn from you."

His eyes narrow. "The Fire Nation is his home country."

"True," she admits, leaning back into her chair, intertwining her hands together, "but he's the Avatar. He belongs to the people, not one nation, regardless of if it was the one he was born in."

"Hypocritical, Tsunade-sama," comments A, sneering. "As if you haven't been hoarding the boy to yourself."

"I've been teaching him in the safest place in the world," she says, voice being increasingly aggressive. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Commanders, please," calls the leading air bender, adjusting his wide-framed glasses gently. "This is not a debate. We came here to discuss Orochimaru and the Avatar, amongst other things."

"Every nation and village has issued a wanted warrant for Orochimaru," says Mei. "The only place in the world he is safe is the Southern Water Tribe."

"Then invade it," Rasa argues. "They have a population under two hundred, which has surely gone done since their attack on the royal fire capitol. They'll be a snap to get rid of."

Mei stands. "There are innocent people there forced under his control," she says. "The Mist Village will have no part in this!"

"As will the Northern Water Tribe," Hiashi agrees, monotonously. "The Northern and Southern Water Tribes are forbidden to wage war against each other. Doing so would be breaking ancient law."

Rasa's eyes narrow, lips down-turned, that the only people capable of attacking the Southern Pole refuse to.

"All nations and villages will be participating in a search and seizure of Orochimaru's person," concludes the leading air bender. "He is an international threat, expanding beyond the lines of nations and villages."

"And what of the Avatar?" asks A. "Which element is he going for next?"

"Ideally," speaks up an air nomad representative, "he will return to the Southern Air Temple. It is unlikely the Akatsuki will attack him there again, especially if the jinchuuriki is else where."

"No," Tsunade says, immediately, standing up.

They look to her. "No?"

"No," she repeats. "The jinchuuriki and the Avatar stay together. Separating them would be disastrous."

"With all due respect, Tsunade-sama," Mei begins, tone gentle as they are the only ones at the table who could possible be considered friends. "Keeping them together places both of their lives in greater danger. We can't risk losing the Avatar and the Nine Tailed Beast at the time. Surely you must know that."

(She does. It still doesn't feel right._

"Then it's settled," says the leading Air Nomad, "the Avatar will be relocated to the Southern Air Temple and the Jinchuuriki will remain in the care of the Earth Kingdom. Any objections?"

He looks around and bangs his gavel.

"Alright, meeting adjourned."

_____

The ship rocks rythematically in the night, the gentle hum of the engine in the backdrop. Sasuke curls his hands deeper into his pillow, eyes focused determinedly at the empty wall.

(He can't sleep.)

(How could he sleep?)

His busy thoughts and the crashing of the waves fills his rushing mind.

The door cracks open slowly, far too softy to be Naruto and too familiar to be a servant. He waits, quietly. Kakashi takes a seat at the end of his bed, sinking slightly with his weight. The room is pitch black but he doesn't need the light to see his expression.

"I'm not an international criminal," he says, finally. They've been avoiding him, not that he cares."Stop treating me like one."

"You're not," he promises

He refuses to look at him, back still faced towards him.

Kakashi looks at him gently. He is a book he has learned well to read. "It's okay to miss him, you know."

He shoots up like a dart instantly, hissing. "I don't miss him."

Kakashi raises a slim eyebrow in the dark, unimpressed. "Then what was all that about?" he asks. "You got so upset after Shizune brought the news."

_Oh._

Not... not him.

(Stupid Sasuke.)

"Is this a ploy to talk about my feelings?" he accuses, narrowing his eyes, and pouting grumpily.

Kakashi smiles, sheepishly. "It is that obvious?"

He kicks at him. "You can't even talk about your own feelings, don't talk to me about mine."

"I'm not," he assures. He shifts uncomfortably, scratching the back of his neck, awkwardly. He's right, he's never been one for emotions, let alone words and comfort. "I just— I never really had someone to talk to when I was your age," he admits, quietly. "I don't want you to go through the same thing."

Sasuke is quiet, staring off into the consuming darkness.

He's lost someone again.

(He is hurting.)

He wipes at his eyes, angrily.

Not someone who he was particularly close with, no, but a kind man who had always looked after him, who had given him a home when his was blood-stained beyond repair.

And yet, Hiruzen had sealed him away, placed him in a glass shelf for items too delicate to touch. He ignored him, never helped him move beyond the grief of his clan. He isolated him from the world, kept him away, held him back from his Avatar training...

(Why was he mourning him?)

Kakashi reaches over to ruffle his hair and Sasuke is too deep in thought to stop him. "I'm always here, you know."

Sasuke turns away, refusing to look at him. (No... everyone eventually always goes. Whether they leave or die, or anything else in between.)

He disappears back through the door, bits of light bleeding through the hallway. He looks regretful, sad that he couldn't do more. "Good night, Sasuke."

He is quiet. "Good night, Kakashi."

_____

Sasuke sits on the roof of the ship, legs crossed, and eyes closed. Wind blowing through his rustled black hair. He inhales the salty air of the ocean, letting the gentle spray hit his face. He almost seems at peace, but his mind is running a million miles per hour.

_Half-baked Avatar..._

It was seething, a bitter low blow... An Avatar who couldn't water bend and who could barely air bend, let alone contact his past lives and enter the spirit world.

Tsunade was right, bluntly and rudely so. He's not ready, he's nowhere near ready. He was a failure in every way, nothing in comparison to his past life. Senju Hashirama, the god amongst benders and Avatars.

(Will he ever be able to defeat Itachi?)

____

They miss the funeral.

It's tradition in the Fire Nation to cremate the deceased as soon as possible, but— but still— still— he had been hoping, on the office chance that maybe—

Naruto sinks down to his knees, staring down miserably at Hiruzen' s new grave, surrounded by fresh flowers and smoking incense.

He crumples his hands in his pants and bows his head to hide his tears.. "They—" he hiccups, whispering, "—they could have at least... could have at least..."

_Told us. Waited?_

Sasuke looks to him, carefully. When Naruto is sad, it's like the whole world dims with him. If his very essence brings the sun, then his griefs steals it.

It's unnatural. Strange... and it hurts.

Like a deep whole carving through his chest, resounding with the thump of his heart.

(Was he still mourning Hiruzen?)

No, no. He barely knew him, barely saw him. Then, then that meant—

"Are you crying?" Naruto asks, suddenly.

Sasuke nearly falls over in his haste. He wipes at his eyes furiously, angrily. "N—no, shut— shut up! It's just the incense!"

He knocks over one of the burning incense in order to prove his point.

Naruto rushes forward, trying to pick up the scattered remains. He grumbles indecently at him, "That's disrespectful to the dead! What's wrong with you?"

He sneers. "When did you ever care about respect?"

He glowers at him. "Since it's someone we know!"

Sasuke's heart hurts. "Why do you even care about him," he chokes. "You barely knew him! What has that old croon ever done but lock us away?"

Naruto is growing angry, but the redness of his eyes and the flush of his cheeks give him away. "He saved me! He gave me a home!"

"He locked you away in a zoo," he says, "and called it a home.a'

Naruto screams, tackling him to the ground. Sasuke kicks at his knees, wrestling him to the ground.

"Don't talk about him like that!" he screams.

"I'll talk about him how I want!" he yells. "He— he isolated me! Stole me away from the world and you— you expect me to be _grateful_?"

Naruto pauses, looking down at him. His eyes are big, blue and all consuming. It's like the universe opening its eyes. "He was my friend," he chokes.

He turns his head. "You didn't even know him."

Naruto speaks softly, a gentle voice that almost doesn't seem to belong him. He stands up from him, slowly, like a loose doll whose strings aren't being pulled.

Sasuke can feel his grief just as deeply as he feels his own.

(It scares him.)

"He was my friend."

"Friend," Sasuke echoes, baffled. "He was seventy years older than you. How could he possibly be your friend?"

He looks down. "You wouldn't understand."

It feels like a slap in the face, a terribly ironic reversal of roles. "You've never lost anyone before. _You_ don't understand."

(You don't understand what it's like for everyone around you to die.)

Naruto stands, angrily. "If you have something to say to my face, just say it!"

He glares back.

(He has no idea what to say, what this storming feeling in his being is.)

So he turns his back, against Naruto's loud noises of protests, and doesn't look back.

____

Iruka writes him letters, as he always does. Long letters detailing the Southern Air Temple and its nomads in his absent. Naruto, usually, only has short responses to offer, and he apologizes in every letter, but the older man never seems to mind.

_Sasuke is acting weird_ , he had wrote last week. Ever since he had fought with Tsunade, he had been irratic and strange, picking fights at every notion and skipping meals he'd always find important. Kakashi was little to no help and Sakura was no longer around to serve as a buffer.

Naruto was clueless and frustrated beyond belief.

Iruka, as always, responds with wisdom far beyond his age. _It's grief. It's not right for him to make you suffer with him, but he likely doesn't mean to. I know it's difficult, Naruto, but give him time. He's hurting_.

He taps his pen to his lip.

Sasuke? Hurting?

It seemed like two opposing words destined to never match. Sasuke was strong, unmatchable in every way. He was the Avatar, untouchable by the world.

_He's human too_ , Iruka promises and Naruto wonders just how true that is.

_____

Sasuke sees Asuma one day at his father's grave, smoking a heavy cigarette and holding a bouquet of fresh golden flowers.

He takes suspicious note of his civilian clothing. "Fire Prince Asuma," he says, "your coronation is soon?"

Asuma looks up at him slowly, "You haven't heard?"

_____

Sasuke all but busts down the grand doors, scattering terrified attendants and any lingering dust in the vicinity. "What do you mean Asuma isn't the next Fire Lord?" he yells.

Homies stares at him, expressionlessly "Greetings to you too, Avatar."

"Answer my question!" he demands . "Asuma is Hiruzen's oldest kid, why is he not being installed as Fire Lord?"

Koharu leans back into her seat. (She's become oddly comfortably in Hiruzen's absence.) "The cabinet deemed he was not fit to take on the role of Fire Lord. He was a rebellious young man, that reputation still precedes him."

It was a blatant lie. Asuma was one of the Fire Nation's most respected commanders.

"Then what about his other kids?" he bites.

"Same deal."

He points at them, angrily. "Is this a coup?" he accuses without truly thinking.

Her eyes narrow. "A coup implies something illegal."

"Isn't that what this is?" he demands, "You're refusing a transition to power!"

"We are not," Homura argues, growing angrily. "We have simply chosen a better candidate to represent our nation."

"And who would that be?" he sneers, disgusted. "You?"

" _Me_."

Sasuke turns his head, startled, where the elders show no reaction. Danzo moves slowly from the shadows, side leaning heavily onto one cane, body damaged beyond repair from many wars ago.

And he looks at him like scum stuck under his feet.

" _You_ ," he says, "you're stealing the throne?"

"Stealing would be an inaccurate term," he comes to a stop. "As Homura said, a better candidate has simply been chosen."

Did they think he was an idiot? He's always disliked the cabinet, but he had never thought they would—

"Your only experience in politics is a ruthless general," he accuses.

He steps forward. "And that is exactly what this country needs. The people are in shambles, terrified, after the murder of their Fire Lord. They need a strong leader in this time of he need," he leans back into his chair, slowly, as if the action is too much for body. "Fire Prince Asuma just didn't fit that criteria."

His throat closes in on itself. He clenches his fists, hissing. They're stealing power. They're up to something. "I refuse to accept this!"

"Reality happens with or without your acceptance, Avatar," he bows his head, mockingly. Sasuke's world goes red. "If you would, the door is that way."

He is sure to slam the doors behind him.

______

Kakashi catches him as he's angrily shoving clothing into a bag. He doesn't have his usual tidiness to fold them. HIs teacher looks at him, apprehensively. "Where are you going?"

Sasuke jumps on him like a feral animal. His eyes are burning. "You didn't tell me," he accuses, immediately.

His teacher sighs and bows his head, already knowing the topic without it having to be said. He places his hand to his head. "I've been talking to Tsunade-sama, seeing if they really can—"

"—I'm not living in a Fire Nation where Danzo is the ruler," he declares.

"Unfortunately," Kakashi argues. "You are. The global leaders summit agreed he was a worthy candidate."

"They are dirty," he says, angrily. "They're keeping secrets, just like the Old Man! They're shuffling power for themselves!"

"Sasuke," he warns.

"And I won't tolerate it!" he yells. "I'm leaving and you can't do anything about it!"

Kakashi catches his arm as he turns his back on him, ready to storm off. "You are not leaving," he says, firmly, in a tone so unlike his own.

Sasuke rips his arm free. "Yes, I am."

"The summit has already decided on your next location."

"Oh, great!" he laughs, bitterly. "More people making more decisions for me!"

Anger is bubbling deep in his chest. It's consuming his very being, swallowing him whole. They've been controlling him his whole life. Hiruzen. The Cabinet. Kakashi.

"Sasuke," he says. "These are dangerous times. You can't travel the world on your own!"

"Maybe it's what I need," his voice is rising. "A trip to discover myself and all that spiritual shit! Maybe I'll finally be able to access the Avatar State!"

"That's why you're going to the Southern Air Temple," Kakashi is starting to get frustrated too, "and to learn airbending!"

"It's pointless!" he yells, "I can't do it!"

"Yes, you can!"

"It's the element of freedom, Kakashi!" he screams. "I've been trapped my whole life, in this palace, in my head! You think I possibly even have a chance at the element of peace!"

He closes his eyes. "You weren't trapped."

"You hid me away," his voice almost cracks. "You and Hiruzen and everybody else in this fucking castle!"

"It was for your protection," he says, sadly. "In the case, Itachi ever—"

"—Don't say that name," he hisses, there are tears glittering in his eyes. "You have no right to say that name!"

That name.

That name who took everything. His mother, his father, his future.

That name who he is no closer to defeating.

"You've kept me away!" he yells. "You're part of the reason why I can't airbend! You've been holding me back from Itachi!"

His name hangs in the air like poison. Sasuke's chest rises and falls, heavily, a hysterical look in his eyes.

Kakashi is growing uncharacteristically angry. "What is with you lately?" he demands, "Challenging the Earth Queen! Disrespecting the Cabinet!" his voice is rising slowly. "Sasuke, that's enough!"

He's so furious he can barely see. "You! You've done nothing but stall me!"

"Sasuke, that's enough!"

His chest is rising and falling, rising and falling. Life and death. Destiny and fate. His future he has no choice in.

"I hate you!"he screams.

He's surprised the words leave his mouth. Kakashi's single white eye blinks with a shocked sadness. He almost regrets his words. Almost.

"Sasuke," he says, sternly.

His eyes water. "You're not my father," he stands. He thinks of how he scolds him, watches over him, tends to him. (He could never replace him.) "Don't even try to be."

He turns his back and slams the door behind him.

_____

Naruto is hot on heels. (Because of course he is. He always is.)

"Hey, hey, Sasuke!" he yells after him, desperately trying to keep up. "Where are you going?"

He has another bag slung over his shoulder, filled with clothes that he had stolen from the attendants' room and a sack full of money in his pocket.

"Leaving," he says, angrily.

Naruto freezes in his trot. "Eh?"

Sasuke ignores him and continues walking. He steps straight through the main gates, past the sleeping guards, and into the high city.

Naruto scrambles after him. "You can't be serious."

"Hm."

"Sasuke," Naruto grabs him by the wrist.

Sasuke turns slowly to face him. "What?" he barks.

"What's going on?"

He turns his nose up. "It's none of your business."

Alarm is raising in Naruto. "It is when you're running away."

He rolls his eyes, pulling away, and continuing to walk. "As if you didn't make several dozen escape attempts."

"That was different!" he splutters.

"Hmph."

(Of course it is. It always is.)

(Why did he ever hope Naruto would understand?)

"You can't just leave!"

"Why not?" he wheels on him. "Clearly whatever I'm doing here isn't working. I need to do things my own way."

"How," he demands, "by traveling around like a hobo until you find some water bending master?"

He grinds his teeth.

"I don't care," he hisses, "as long as it's far, far away from here."

His eyebrows furrow, determinedly, in the way they do when he's made his mind and there's nothing in the world to change it. "I'm going with you."

"No," he stops. "You're not."

"You can't stop me," he cocks his head, huffily.

And Sasuke has no time for patience.

He spreads his arms into a fighting stance, eyes narrowed. "Try me."

The crowd around them leans forward. Neither to see mind the scene they're making.

Why are you doing this, Naruto wants to scream. You're hurting. _Don't run_. It hurts more to be alone. 

Sasuke launches a spiral of fire. Thinking quickly, Naruto blows air back, not realizing the consequences. The fire consumes him, burning at his skin, covering his sight in red and gold.

He screams, falling to the ground. The red bubble of the Kyuubi's chakra reaching out to heal him instantly. It twists wildly, flickering back and forth uncontrollably.

Not now, he begs. Not now, _please_.

His body moves on its own, red chakra shooting forward. Sasuke runs to meet him in the middle.

He can't stop. The Kyuubi spirit is pulling him forward. Rage echoing through his soul. He can't stop. He can't stop.

Black flames burst between them, spiraling ten feet high, blowing them feet apart. The crowd gasps, outliers beginning to scatter. Naruto's chakra cloak blinks and disappears, his face pressed into the ground.

Sasuke raises his head, pure fear consuming his very being. His hands are shaking. His hands are shaking.

He knows those flames.

He knows those flames.

Two men emerge from the crowd, draped in black and red coats, and straw hats with small chimes. The larger one smiles, a beast closer to a man, blue skin and sharp teeth. "Well," he grins, "isn't this a surprise."

Itachi bows his head, gently removing his hat. His long black hair flows behind him elegantly. He seems decades older than he really is. The deep wrinkles in his face betray his real age.

"It's been a while," his eyes are cold. " _Sasuke_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I say this every chapter, but I’m sorry this took so long. Senior year is really kicking me ass and I’m really struggling to update. I’m also weary about continuing this fic, because there are others I want to do more but I really just need to finish this idk. I’ve changed Sakura’s character and circumstances a little bit and you’ll see why later. Kakashi is a little more emotional and less laid back because he does consider Sasuke as a soon of sorts, so that’s why he’s acting a little strange. I don’t think I did a very good job at keeping Sasuke in character, but I hope at least realistic. He’s going through a rough time. He’s starting to already learn about the corrupt nature of the Fire Nation. For clarification: despite Jiraiya’s training, Naruto is very much far away from mastering Kurama’s chakra. It’s still uncontrollable and reacts violently to his negative emotions. Please let me know if I should continue this.


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